


Break a Leg Kid: Kageyama Reiji's Story

by OrangeSorbetto



Category: Inazuma Eleven
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Angst, Death, Family Drama, Family Dynamics, Friendship/Love, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Internalized Homophobia, Manipulation, One-Sided Attraction, Original Character(s), Pregnancy, Psychological Trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-08
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2020-11-27 23:36:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 45,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20956799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OrangeSorbetto/pseuds/OrangeSorbetto
Summary: We all know Kageyama Reiji as the commander of Teikoku, the embodiment of evil, but what brought him there? This story explores the twisted dynamics of his home life, school life, work life, and his soccer life, and how he got wrapped up in the spiral of evil deeds. And it starts right at the beginning of it all. No one is born bad. (Also the relationship is not the main focus, I just put it there to cover all my bases. Essentially, this story is not about romance, but it is used as a plot device.)





	1. Too Much Soccer Politics

Kageyama Reiji had always loved to watch his father play soccer. As a young kid, he spent countless hours practicing and analyzing the way Kageyama Tougo played soccer, which led him to be a skilled player himself. While his father readied for the Japanese National Team, which he earned a spot on, Reiji readied himself for the middle school soccer club. He already knew he was going to attend Raimon Junior High School, when his father was asked to join the national team. Reiji was very proud that the man, who was his role model, would be a representative for his country.

However, what he hadn’t accounted for was Kageyama Tougo’s soccer becoming something else entirely. While joining the national team had put a lot of pressure on the man, it had started to eat away at him. A darkness shrouded his soccer which made all his once magical and perfect plays, into something unrecognizable. It soon became clear, before the World Cup had begun, that Kageyama Tougo had no place on the Japanese soccer team, and it eventually led to his firing, and his slot to be filled by someone else.

Watching this situation happen broke Reiji’s heart, but he had to remain strong. He knew his father was doing his best, even if it had taken a mental toll on him. The man’s mental health started to deteriorate that year, and even though it was gradual, young Reiji could tell. 

“Endou Daisuke.” Tougo had muttered as he dragged himself out of bed before noon that day. He had had a hard time waking up early after his recent unemployment. He held up the newspaper at his wife who did what she could to remain positive in the situation. “They replaced me with Endou Daisuke. He’s so young and inexperienced. There’s no way he’ll do well on the team.”

Marie Kageyama was a beautiful woman. Tall, blonde, and fashionable, she was from Italy originally and met Tougo when he was playing abroad. They quickly hit it off and got married, having her whole life moved to Japan. She wasn’t regretful for it, but it posed some challenges. Her Japanese was good as she had time to perfect it but being foreign could be a little rocky of a situation. 

“Well, even still, we should hope for the best for him.” Ever the optimist, Marie smiled at her husband and poured him a cup of tea. “He seems like a nice young man. Didn’t we meet him at that banquet not too long ago?”

“Young is right.” Tougo said bitterly as he sipped his tea. “And yes, we did. You spoke Italian with him. But I suppose you’re right, I should hope for the best…”

Reiji had heard this conversation and remembered the name Endou Daisuke. The man who kicked his father off the national team. Even if that wasn’t exactly as the situation happened, he could feel the vengeful feeling in his father’s voice.

\--

Days and days passed and there was still no word about what would happen after the World Cup. Tougo hadn’t received work, and the finances were already tight. While they were surviving, they hadn’t planned for what would happen next.

By this time Reiji had started Junior High but had waited on joining the soccer club. He was anxious about the news of his father’s career spreading. He wasn’t sure what others would say. He let a few months drag on by, thinking it would be fine. He didn’t need to join yet.

“Oh Reiji, you’re home!” Marie had a habit of speaking in Italian to her son, which was how she greeted him as she ushered him into the sitting room. She sat him down in front of herself and Tougo, letting her language switch back to Japanese. “I have some important news to tell you.”

Reiji didn’t know what to expect when he just came back from school, but he wasn’t one to speak out of turn. He was usually a cheerful kid, but the recent circumstances started to change that. “Oh, okay…?” He muttered like a question. He looked over at his father who seemed to look uneasy. What was going on?

Marie, however, had a smile on her face. “Well, I went to the doctor, and we just found out today, that you’re going to be a big brother!”

Reiji stopped a moment. “Huh?”

“I’m pregnant.” She placed a hand on her stomach with a wider smile. “It came as a shock, what with the timing and all, but your father and I are excited.”

As the idea of being a brother entered in Reiji’s mind, he found himself worried. He wanted to be as happy and cheerful as his mother was, but the thought that his father was out of work, and still hadn’t had a job lined him made him anxious. Would they be okay?

Tougo sat up and placed a hand on his wife’s shoulder. He let out a tired smile, the kind that Reiji could immediately see how worried he was as well. “You’re going to have to help out a lot around here, but you’ll make a great brother.”

Marie smiled wider. Forever the optimist, she leaned into her husband’s touch happily. “We’ll get through this. You’ll get recruited in no time.”

Tougo clearly had started losing hope at this but he nodded at his wife anyways. It was hard to stay mad at a baby, and while he initially took the news nervously, he was starting to feel better about it.

However, Reiji had reservations about it but even still, he looked at his mother’s smile and couldn’t help but smile back. She was always so positive about any situation. It was naïve of her, even a young boy like him knew that, but he still admired her for it. “Great.” He finally managed to say. He never really wanted to be a brother, but now was not the time to complain. He knew that well.

Marie gave a giggle and kissed her son on the head. “I’ll go make a celebratory cake then.” She stood up and sauntered to the kitchen like the housewife she was. 

Reiji looked over at his father letting his smile fade when he saw his fathers had. “Is it going to be okay?” He muttered quietly.

Tougo sighed and gave a shrug. “It’ll have to be.” He said and grabbed his glass from the table in front of him. He sipped his third alcoholic drink since he’d been awake.

\--

Weeks go by and Kageyama Tougo had been lucky to have work again. However, he was dropped from one team for under performance, just to be let onto another. In this time, his wife’s stomach got rounder, and his son finally decided to join the soccer club at his junior high school. The year was almost over, but he knew he should anyways.

Reiji had already had a legacy when he joined the Raimon soccer club which was why he had reservations about joining. The legacy hadn’t aged well as he joined. Given the scandal of why Kageyama Tougo had been dropped from the Japanese National Team, the younger already expected weird looks from his peers.

That didn’t stop him from enjoying his soccer. During their first few practices, it was just warmups and practice matches, but Reiji never backed down. Sure, the team was small at the time, but he decided he would make them strong if they had too.

At this point, they didn’t have a permanent coach either, so the Raimon Soccer Club held a lot of down time for the players to get to know each other.  
“Hey Kageyama—is it true your father is Kageyama Tougo?” 

Reiji had been stretching at the end of their practice to see their goalkeeper looking over at him. Hibiki Seigou was loud and a bit of a troublemaker, at least that’s what he had gathered so far. All the players of Raimon seemed to like him though.

“Yeah.” He said nonchalantly with a shrug. 

Hibiki gave a surprised noise and looked back at the group of players he was originally talking with. He grinned at the thought. “We have a celebrity on our team.” 

Reiji gave a chuckle just to show he was listening, but he didn’t know how to approach such a situation. No one had ever called himself, or his father a celebrity before. He often forgot how well known his father actually was.

“Too bad he was dropped from the national team though.” One of the players shook his head in pity. “He was a damn good forward. He didn’t deserve that.”

Being in a group of people who shared his opinion on his father made Reiji smile a bit more. The only people he had a chance to talk about it with were his own parents, so it was nice to have some relatively normal ears. “Yeah, but he’s joined a team now.” Reiji said back. “The national team was just too much soccer politics.” It was something he heard his father say once.

The other players thought him wise to say it and they nodded. 

Hibiki gave a bit of a boisterous laugh. “I heard a rumor he was drinking too much and that’s why they kicked him off.” He raised an eyebrow at the other teammate.

Reiji was initially caught off guard by the statement, but when he realized the goalkeeper just wanted to get a rise out of him, he shook his head. “That’s not true.” At least he hoped it wasn’t true. They never really went over the specifics at home.

Hibiki laughed again. “Alright.” He gave a wave of his hand and then casually adjusted the bandana on his head. He began walking off without a care.

Reiji concluded that he didn’t like Hibiki.


	2. The New Coach

By the time he got home his mother greeted him and his father was nodding off in the living room, with a glass half empty in his hand. 

“Welcome home.” Marie greeted to him in Italian. She let that be their language for the moment. “How was soccer practice? Did you have fun? Make any friends?”

Reiji gave a pause, and then a shrug. He was never good at making friends. “It was good. We just played some practice matches against each other. Nothing special.” He spoke in Italian back to her, as she expected him too.

“That’s good. Practice is important. Come help me get the table ready for dinner.” She looked over at her husband and gave a huff. “He fell asleep again?”

Remembering what Hibiki had said so crassly, Reiji felt a pang in his heart. Had he been drinking a lot? He never noticed before…

\--

“Kageyama--!”

Reiji was lucky he had fast reflexes because as soon as he heard his name a soccer ball was headed in his direction. He jumped up and stopped the ball with his foot, only to look back at the source that it came from.

“My bad.” Hibiki grinned and placed a hand behind his head. “Good thing you’re so fast, eh?”

Reiji let out a sigh of a breath and kicked it back to him, not bothering to dignify that with a response. He was so careless.

\--

That night when Reiji got back home, he didn’t get a response from his parents. This was unusual as his mother would usually greet him, and his father would either be sleeping or preoccupied at work.

He used his strength to make light footsteps towards the kitchen where he heard muffled noises. Laughing perhaps?

After he snuck his way to the kitchen, he saw his mother and his father in a happy embrace, holding each other in a kiss. They weren’t particularly an affectionate couple, so seeing them so happy was confusing. He couldn’t help but feel like he was intruding and took a step back. Perhaps he could sneak out and pretend to walk in louder.

However, that wasn’t necessary, as they pulled away from each other, Marie noticed her son out of the corner of her eye. “Reiji!” She smiled as she let their embrace loosen a bit. “When did you get home?” She giggled, her face a little pink from embarrassment. 

“Just now.” He said to her and looked at the floor.

“Oh well, your father and I were just thinking of baby names.” She smiled at her son.

“I think we should go with Hideaki if it’s a boy.” Tougo smiled at her wife and then looked back at his son as well. “What do you think, Reiji?”

It was the first time his father had actively asked him a question in a while. He had been so busy at work he hardly had time to see him, so at least it made him smile to hear it. “I like it.” Reiji agreed, knowing that was the best way to be on both of their good sides. Through all the stress he had become some what of a pushover for his parents, as that’s what they needed of him. He didn’t have a lot of room to express his opinions on things.

“Well, come on, let’s have dinner, then.” Marie smiled at her husband and kissed his cheek. “No more distractions.”

“We’ll help you set the table.” Tougo chuckled and gestured for his son to come help. That was the first time they felt like a happy family in a while.

\--

“Did you guys hear? We’re getting our coach today!” Hibiki said in the locker rooms, as he made sure to be as loud as possible. There were only twelve people in the room, and everyone could hear him just fine, and yet he was still loud.

While everyone else really liked Hibiki, there was something about him Reiji couldn’t stand. Because of this, he never tried to be close to him.

“I wonder who it will be.” Another member mentioned as murmurs creeped throughout the locker room.

“I hear it’s someone famous!” Another member mentioned.

Immediately everyone looked at Reiji because their father was the only famous person they knew. Once the striker realized everyone was staring at him, he felt his face flush a little. “I don’t know anything about it!” He finally said and shook his head. “My father has been busy playing for Tokyo.”

Everyone seemed to look at each other and then went back to dressing for practice. When they made their way to the club room, a man in an orange headband greeted them as they entered.

He looked familiar to Reiji, with that silly orange headband but he couldn’t place a name to the face. How had he known the man? He was supposedly famous, right? Did others know him?

“Good afternoon everyone!” The man greeted with a big grin on his face. “I’m Endou Daisuke. I’m your new coach!”

Instantly, Reiji knew that name. The name of the man who kicked his father off the soccer team. He had been in a good mood previously but after hearing this, he felt his stomach drop. How could he face his father and tell him the man who was coaching him was the same man who cost him his job?

Everyone else had an easy time figuring out who he was by his name. There were excited stares and murmurs across the club room, except from Reiji. He was too conflicted to be excited.

“Kageyama Reiji?” Daisuke looked over at the young player and smiled wide. “My, have you grown! You’re starting to look just like your father!”

Not realizing he had met the man before, Reiji just gave a polite nod. 

“You know him?” Hibiki asked the coach incredulously. 

Daisuke gave a laugh. “I sure do.” He said happily. “I used to play soccer with Kageyama Tougo a lot. His dad’s an excellent player, did you all know that?”

Excitedly, the other members looked to Reiji who now was turning a bright pink color. As the other players realized everything that he had said was now also being said by a famous soccer player, they were all very interested in Reiji’s life.

“So, your dad really is Kageyama Tougo!”

“Wow, that must be so amazing! You get the meet a bunch of famous players!”

“What’s he like?”

Being overwhelmed by questions, Reiji just blushed and looked up at their new coach. He didn’t mean to, but his face was somewhat a plead for help.

“Hey, come on, kids.” Daisuke laughed. “Leave Kageyama alone, we got practice to do, if we’re going to make it to the football frontier.”

The crowd suddenly looked up at their new coach. 

“The football frontier?” Hibiki shook his head in disbelief. “You think we can?”

Daisuke smiled. “Well, I think so. Let’s go practice and see.”

\--

During cool down at the end of practice, Hibiki stood up and walked over to Reiji with a smile on his face. “I can’t believe your dad really is Kageyama Tougo.”

Reiji didn’t mean to be nonresponsive to his teammate, but he didn’t like him. He already decided that in his head. “Well, he is.” He said simply.  
“You know, no one really believed you when you said that.”

Reiji looked over at him again, wondering what he was playing at. “That’s dumb.” He decided he was done stretching and started walking to the bench now.

Hibiki followed him. “I mean, you can’t blame us. You can’t say your fathers a famous soccer player and have everyone believe you without even seeing the guy. But I guess Coach Endou proved it!”

The striker looked at him incredulously again and then looked away. He didn’t even know what to say to that. He didn’t like the idea that he was perceived as a liar. He was socially awkward, he knew that, but he never really was a liar. 

“Hey, you should hang out with me and some of the guys!” Hibiki grinned at his own suggestion. “We’re gonna go get some food.”

Reiji hadn’t ever been invited out before with anyone, but this wasn’t going to be the first time. He could make his own friends and he didn’t want Hibiki to be one of them. “That’s alright.” He said simply. “My mom is making dinner and wants me home.” 

“Ah, Marie.” Daisuke cut in as he grabbed his notebook from the bench. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen her. How is she?”

Reiji was definitely caught off guard by the question, but again he shrugged nonchalantly. “She’s good.” For lack of a better way to explain that she was stressed and pregnant, that’s what he gave.

“Good, good. I’ll have to drop by and say hi one of these days.”

Reiji nodded again and then headed off. The sooner he left, the sooner he could get away from this awkward situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this is staring off so boring. I'm trying to establish relationships while also breaking it up into chapters. I promise it does get more interesting.


	3. Secret Plan

When he got home, his father hadn’t come back, and his mother was finishing up dinner. Again, speaking to her son in her native tongue she greeted him. “Hello, Reiji. How was school?”

“Okay.” He shrugged again.

“Make any friends?”

Reiji shrugged. “I guess.” It was hard to say otherwise. He made teammates but he assumed that was good enough. 

She gave him a look. “Love, you have to make friends.” She said sympathetically. “Friends are the ones who help you out through the hard times. They’re good to have. I wish I had friends here, but instead I only have friends back in Italy who I get to write to sometimes.”

She didn’t mean to live vicariously through her child, but she was. She wanted what was best for her son, of course, but she wanted him to have fun and be happy while she was busy at home caring for the house and preparing for a new baby.

Reiji could tell this was the way she felt. He could empathize with her so easily, even though she never said any of her problems. He could just tell. So, he decided he’d ease up her issues some more.

“I’m going to go out with some of the guys from the soccer team sometime.” He said simply. “They were all excited when they heard dad was on the national team, so I guess they want to know more about that.”

Marie’s smile faded a bit for a second, but then she picked it back up again. “Mm, well, that’s interesting.” She said simply and turned back to her cooking. “I wonder where that man is now. He must still be training.”

After a pause the boy went on. “We got a new coach today.”

“Oh, did you?”

“Yeah, Endou Daisuke.”

Marie looked over interested. She clearly didn’t have the same bad blood between the man as her husband did. “Wow! I wonder why he’s teaching middle school now and not playing?”

Reiji just shrugged.

“I wonder how your father will take that news.”

Little did either of them know, he wouldn’t be home until late, because he and some other soccer players ended up at the bar. When he got home, he was too drunk to function, so he ended up falling asleep right away. 

Reiji decided that there might have been somewhat of a drinking problem there. But that couldn’t have been why he got fired from the team, right? He really hoped Hibiki wasn’t right.

\--

Weeks had gone by since Kageyama Tougo had heard the news. He was clearly bitter, and his mood was spiraling down. He drank more during the day, and when he didn’t work, he had a hard time waking up. A few times he had to call out to practice because he couldn’t get out of bed.

Reiji blamed himself on telling his father about his coach, but in reality, he knew it was probably the stress of the new baby. He detested this new baby that wasn’t even born yet, but he wouldn’t ever say that. 

Soccer training hadn’t been easy either. Reiji still hadn’t really made any friends, but he was getting along better with those he worked with. Well, all except for Hibiki.

Their relationship had become more tumultuous. No one was sure if it was Reiji’s cold demeanor or something else that rubbed Hibiki the wrong way, but he was beginning to see it as a threat.

“Watch where you’re going.” Hibiki muttered before he rammed himself into Reiji to get him to move out of the way. 

The smaller of the two tripped over his own feet and fell into the grass next to the pitch. Hibiki laughed when it happened. 

“Hibiki!” Daisuke scolded him from afar and walked over.

The goalkeeper looked at his coach as he watched and stood up straight. He could bully Kageyama but whenever he got in trouble with Daisuke, he cowered.  
“Apologize to Kageyama, right now.” Coach Endou commanded sternly.

Hibiki looked down a second and then looked at Reiji, who was still on the floor now. “Sorry.”

“Now help him up.”

Hibiki reluctantly placed his hand out to Reiji for him to take. The striker looked at it a moment and held his own hand out, only to slap the others away and stand up himself.

“Why would I take help from a nobody like you?” His voice spat poison into the goalkeeper.

“Kageyama--!” Daisuke was fed up. This was the at least the fifth time this week they had had an altercation and it was only Thursday. It was time for him to bring out the big plan he had been keeping a secret.

When he gathered everyone in the club room, he laid the plan on them.

“We have been having a lot of problems recently and our team isn’t bonding.” He said and specifically looked across the room at their striker and then their goalkeeper, who was now their captain. “And it’s not very good of us. If we can’t get along in practice, how are we going to get along at the pitch, mm?”

Reiji looked at the floor and scowled. He hated that he knew he was talking about him.

Hibiki just looked up interested. He rather liked most of Daisuke’s plans, so he figured it must be good.

“So, we are going to have a sleepover.” Daisuke smiled. 

Confused noises came around the crowd of teenagers before he carried on.

“Tomorrow night, you are all going to come back to school. Bring some pillows and blankets, and a change of pajamas. We’re all going to do some trust exercises, and then sleep overnight in the gym.”

“Whoa, how fun!” Hibiki’s eyes lit up, and the other members of got excited as well.

Kageyama didn’t like where this was going, so the last thing he wanted was to be apart of this. 

\--

Reiji walked into his house after practice ready to tell his parents of the impromptu plans. When he made it inside, he immediately wanted to walk back out.  
“How are we going to pay for a baby, and the rest of these bills?” 

“I don’t know Marie! For the last time, I don’t know!”

“Well, you can’t just stay at home and sleep and drink all day! I can’t take care of a house and two kids by myself!”

“I know! Stop complaining about it!”

“Complaining?!”

The tense air in the house stopped Reiji in his tracks. Something must have happened, but he was too afraid to ask what. Even still the anxiety welled up in his chest as he walked further into the house. In the dining area, his parents had spotted him and immediately stopped fighting.

Marie didn’t have her usual smile on her face, and she quickly snatched the newspaper from off the dining table. “Oh, love, you’re home.” She said quietly in Italian walking over to him and placing a kiss on his forehead. “How long have you been home?”

“I just got here…” Reiji instinctively spoke back to his mother in her native language. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing.” Tougo said in Japanese to his family. “Don’t worry. It’s fine.” He reached over to the cabinet and refilled his glass afterwards.

Reiji watched his parents in their strained air about them and nodded in response finally. He knew they wouldn’t tell him right now. They always shielded him from problems, but he always found a way to get the information he wanted.

However, he didn’t want to pry right now. “Coach Endou says we have to go to school tomorrow after school and sleepover in the gym. He says it’s a bonding exercise.” He said it quickly, for the faster he explained the faster he could go to his room.

“Oh, that sounds like fun.” Marie’s voice was a little peppier as she reached for the supplies to make dinner.

“Ugh, that man.” Tougo shook his head looking back at his son. “I don’t want you hanging around him too much. He’s young and inexperienced, and he’ll just lead you down a path of defeat. He’s an idiot.”

Reiji wasn’t sure if he agreed with that statement, but if his father said it, it just be true. He did know him better than he did, at least he figured he did.

“You shouldn’t speak ill of our son’s coach.” His mother said with a bit of irritation in her voice.

“Why does he think sleeping over at school is going to help? He’s just wasting our kid’s time. He should be teaching him how to play soccer.”

Reiji decided he’d clarify. “He said it’s a bonding exercise.” He repeated.

“Bonding exercise? Hell.” His father scowled more. “That man useless.”

“Tougo, that’s not fair—”

“I didn’t ask for your opinion!”

Marie jumped at his raising of his voice again and she looked at her son. 

Tougo shook his head and looked at him as well. “Go to your room.” His words were sharp and short.

Reiji didn’t argue and did as he was told. As he wondered whether dinner would get done today between the arguments, he sat in his bed. With all the tension and fighting in the house, maybe having a night away from home would be better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See I told you it would get more interesting. It's getting there, right? vague shrugging and hand gestures


	4. Trust Exercises

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this chapter is so long, but it's a happier one and mostly dialogue. It's kinda cute, so at least there is less angst.

The next night came, and Kageyama Tougo had decided he’d take his son to school so he could have a word with Endou Daisuke. 

Reiji wasn’t too keen on this idea, but he decided that it was best not to argue with the man and get into his car. After the fighting from the night before, and the awkwardness between his parents that day, he was truly afraid to make matters worse.

When they got to the school, Kageyama held his blankets and pillow close to himself as their coach approached them.

“Whoa! Kageyama Tougo I haven’t seen you in a while!” Daisuke walked over to him and held out a hand to him. “How’s Marie doing?”

Tougo politely shook his hand and nodded. “Good. She’s very pregnant, so she’s been a little irritable.”

“Pregnant? You’re having another baby?” Daisuke looked surprised. “That’s amazing! Congratulations! My wife is expecting too!”

“Oh, well congratulations yourself.” Tougo didn’t sound particularly invested in his words.

“Thank you! Also, your son has been an inspiration!” Daisuke placed a hand on Reiji’s head and ruffled his hair. He didn’t even care that his pulled back styled hair was getting lose and messy. Reiji did, however. “He’s an amazing striker just like his father.”

Reiji looked over at the group of players forming around the gym. They all seemed to look over at the adults interested in what was happening.

Luckily those words had buttered Tougo up so he wasn’t as crass about his opinions as he could have been. “Yes, and I’d like for my son to have his skills used wisely. Are you sure this camp thing is a good idea?” He asked condescendingly.

Daisuke looked back at his group of kids and then back down at Reiji. “Why don’t you go get situated with the others.” He ruffled the boy’s hair again as he spoke. Reiji rolled his eyes a bit and reluctantly started walking away.

“The truth is,” Daisuke turned around, so he wasn’t facing the kids, and he lowered his voice as well. “Reiji hasn’t been getting along with the others, and he’s been getting into altercations with them.”

“What?” Tougo looked at him incredulously. How could his son be a delinquent? How disrespectful.

“I think it’ll be good for him. I have some bonding exercises in mind that will hopefully fix it all.” Daisuke smiled. “Because other than that, he’s been a great kid. I really see his potential to be an amazing player. He’s going to do this professionally someday, I know it.”

Even though he was disappointed in hearing that his son was getting into fights, he found himself still proud at the fact this man saw potential in his son. He still thought he was stupid, but he was very pleased anyways. “Alright, well, let me say goodbye to him.”

He began walking over to the group of teenagers who suddenly shut up, seemingly starstruck. Tougo placed a hand on his son’s head. “Be good, alright.”

“Yes, dad.” He muttered as his face blushed a bit. 

“Whoa, that’s Kageyama Tougo.” Hibiki whispered to no one in particular, but the group itself.

Tougo looked over at the other boy and smiled lightly and then back to his son. “Your mother will pick you up in the morning, since I have to be somewhere.” He didn’t have to be anywhere, but he didn’t plan on leaving the house either.

“I can walk…” Reiji muttered, embarrassed. 

“Yes, but she wants to come get you tomorrow. Let her have this.” 

“Fine…”

“I’ll see you tomorrow, then.” He gave a nod to the group of teenagers who stood up straight and silent at the fact that another famous soccer player was in their midst, and he turned to Daisuke. “It was good to see you again.” He lied as he walked off. He still couldn’t stand him.

“You too, Kageyama!” Daisuke smiled and waved at him and then turned back to his group, counting all his players. When he realized he had all of them, he smiled. “Alright! Everyone into the gym!”

“Whoa, we had another famous soccer player at our school!” One of the students muttered to another as they walked off.

Once they got into the building the students stopped. There were paper cups all around the gym floor scattered seemingly randomly.

“Okay, everyone, put your things in the corner and we’ll start!” Daisuke instructed. Once they did that and all stood together, their coach brought them in pairs. He made sure to put Kageyama and Hibiki together, though both of them were clearly not happy. “Alright, these will be your partners for the night. So, make sure to treat your partner well, or else you fail bonding time.”

Reiji rolled his eyes. He already wasn’t looking forward to this. He wondered how long he’d have to stay by Hibiki’s side or to what extent they had to actually do anything.

“This game is called Minefield.” Daisuke instructed. “Basically, one partner is blindfolded, and the other partner can see. This means that the partner who can see, has to instruct the blind partner not to knock over any cups.”

When the students began the game, Hibiki and Kageyama had a fight over who was going to be blindfolded first. They didn’t trust each other, so they ended up playing janken for it and Kageyama lost. The beginning of the game was a disaster.

“Uh just…walk forward?” Hibiki tried.

“Okay…” Kageyama lifted his foot but as he brought it down, he felt it hit a cup. “What?!” He lifted his blindfold to see the cup on its side and sighed, irritated.  
Hibiki shook his head. “No, don’t walk that far forward!”

“Well you have to tell me that!” Reiji snapped at him and put the blindfold back on. On the way to the end of the gym and back, he ended up knocking over four cups, because of Hibiki’s bad direction. How was he appointed the captain by Daisuke? He couldn’t give an instruction to save his life.

When the roles changed, Reiji shrugged. “Walk forward.”

“How much?” Hibiki asked as he lifted his foot.

“You tell me.” 

This set Hibiki off. He was getting enough of a hard time from the boy and instead of listening to him, he just walked through the cups. He knocked over the ones he knocked over. He didn’t care.

This made Kageyama angry too, as he tried to give him instruction. “You’re not listening to me!” He yelled to him.

Daisuke watched the interaction go down, and he wasn’t impressed. However, he wasn’t surprised either. He figured that the two would fight like this. He knew they would keep fighting until he could find a way to make them find common ground. 

He waited until this activity was over until he started on the next one. “Okay, this activity is Trust Falls. We will be doing this one pair at a time, so I can watch you.”

“What’s trust falls?” One of the boys, Ukishima asked. He was close to Hibiki, as a fellow defender, so he looked at his close friend for guidance. He didn’t know either.

“Come here, we’ll demonstrate.” Daisuke gestured the boy up, and when he did, he had him face the group. He walked behind him and nodded. “Okay, I want you to fall back into my arms.” Daisuke instructed.

“Huh?” Ukishima’s face went a little pale under his hair. 

“Don’t bend your knees, just fall backwards. And I promise I will catch you.” 

Ukishima was hesitant at first, but he let himself fall even through his anxiety and when his coach caught him, he felt a rush of relief, and went back to his spot in the group.

“See?” Daisuke asked looking at the group. “It’s really easy. You only have to do it once with your partner, but you can do it as many times as you want when we’re all done with each time. Kageyama, Hibiki, you guys are up first.” 

As soon as he said that, Reiji and Hibiki looked at each other and immediately didn’t want to do this.

“You fall first.” Hibiki commanded.

“No!”

“Kageyama you fall first.” Daisuke instructed. 

Reiji felt like he was being betrayed. No wonder his father didn’t like this man. “He’s going to drop me!” He exclaimed.

“No, he won’t.” Daisuke looked at Hibiki. “Will you drop him?” He asked him sternly.

Hibiki shook his head obediently. 

“Look at your partner and tell him that you promise you won’t drop him.” Daisuke gestured to Reiji.

The two looked at each other. Reiji’s expression was filled with anxiety, worried that his peers would judge him if he was dropped. Hibiki was a little rigid as he didn’t want to disappoint his coach. Even if every bone in his body wanted to lie.

“I promise I won’t drop you.” Hibiki finally said. 

Reiji shook his head. He didn’t believe him. 

Daisuke gestured for Reiji to get into position and he did hesitantly. He didn’t want to go first with his partner just to be the first one to fall and hit the ground. He was so nervous. 

“He’s going to catch you, Reiji.” Daisuke rarely used first names, but he felt like it would drive the point home somehow. “He promised. Once a teammate makes a promise to another teammate, he keeps it.”

There was no way that Kageyama would trust that easily. The boy who had been bullying him had no reason to keep his promise, and that fact scared him. He bit his bottom lip a moment as he weighed his options, but decided it was best to just let it happen. Daisuke only had to gesture for him one more time before he felt backwards.

However, instincts kicked in and his leg fell backwards to catch him so his inevitable fall would be softer. Though he never hit the ground. Before he did a pair of arms hooked between his torso and arms and caught him anyways. Did…Hibiki catch him?

“Again.” Daisuke demanded as he watched the scene. “You didn’t trust your partner, Kageyama, even though he caught you. This time, I want your legs perfectly still as you fall backwards. Okay? Use all your weight.”

Kageyama had help from Hibiki to get him back on his feet as he went back to the same position. Would He actually catch him? Was his anxiety unwarranted? 

And it turned out it was. He fell backwards just the same way, except he kept his legs straight, and Hibiki caught him mid fall. While the room applauded, Hibiki helped the other to his feet. “I told you I’d catch you.” He gave a bit of a laugh to his teammate and current enemy. However, he was feeling softer about it.

Daisuke was beaming. “There we go!” He said proudly. “Okay, Hibiki, your turn!”

Hibiki looked at his coach like he was crazy. He shook his head.

“He’ll catch you.”

“No, he won’t.” Hibiki kept his look. “I’ll crush him by accident.” He broke out into laughter with the room and looked at Kageyama.

Reiji looked at his laugh and couldn’t help but do the same. A joke at the expense of both of them, he supposed, could be funny. It was true, they were very different body types. Hibiki was large, and he knew it, and Reiji was kind of skinny. Puberty was hitting both of them different. 

“No excuses. Kageyama is strong.” Daisuke said to Hibiki. “Do you need him to promise?”

Hibiki’s smile faded and he looked at his partner. As Reiji’s face was curious to his answer, the larger boy shook his head. “No, I trust him.”

Reiji was completely floored by his response, but he was right to trust him. After he caught him twice, he wasn’t about to let him fall at his expense. Well, trust was a strong word, but at least for an exercise, if he caught him, Reiji was going to do the same.

Of course, this was Daisuke’s plan. And it was going without a hitch. Hibiki fell and Reiji caught him, and the room applauded. Just as they did for every team after them. It was weird how literally falling into someone’s arms made them more and more trusting of that person. This night would go fine.

Not too long after the trust fall exercise, Daisuke announced that they were going to have a communal cooking time. Every pair got assigned a cooking task, and Hibiki and Kageyama got assigned to looking for firewood for the fire, much to Hibiki’s dismay.

“Man, I wanted to cook.” Hibiki muttered as he and Reiji walked along the outskirts of the school picking up all the kindling for the fire that they could.

Kageyama made a sarcastic noise. “Why?” He would rather be away from the mess in the building.

“I like cooking.” He shrugged and then bent down to pick up a large stray tree branch. “Hey, I have a question for you.”

“Huh?” Kageyama raised an eyebrow. 

“Why were you so mean to me?”

Hearing the question Reiji was at a loss for words. “What?” Why was he asking him that? He was the one who was being so rude to him the whole time. He stopped in his tracks and shook his head doubtfully. “What are you talking about?”

Hibiki shrugged again. “You’ve just been so mean to me. I wanna know why.”

Reiji was skeptical for a while before he realized that he was serious. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Because you were mean to me?” He ended his sentence like a question. He couldn’t believe he didn’t understand that.

“What? I was being mean to you because you were being mean to me!” Hibiki looked at him like his whole world had just imploded. “Are you telling me we were mean to each other because we thought the other was being mean?”

“I guess so.” Reiji shrugged. “…sorry, I guess.”

Hibiki stared skeptically for just a second and then nodded back. “Yeah, I’m sorry too.” He admitted looking at him. “Teammates?” He asked as a truce.

Kageyama gave a nod. “Teammates.” He mirrored, honoring the truce. When Hibiki smiled at him, the other couldn’t help but smile back. Perhaps he could be okay with Hibiki. Especially since he had all night to be with him.

\--

“Alright new game.” Daisuke said as everyone sat in a circle after their dinner. They still sat with their partners as instructed, but everyone was now facing each other. “We’re going to go around the room and each person is going to tell one thing about themselves that your teammates don’t know. I’ll start.” He paused and smiled. “I’m going to have a baby soon, and they think it’s a girl.”

“Whoa you’re going to be a dad!?” Hibiki asked. “Cool!”

Other members of the team offered their congratulations and surprised noises. It was very personal so it set the tone that the others could give something personal about themselves. Daisuke passed the torch to the members beside him.

While everyone was coming up with something interesting, their hobbies, or other interests no one knew, or silly facts about how they contort themselves in some strange way, Reiji didn’t know what he was going to say. What was something interesting about him? They already knew that his father was Kageyama Tougo. That was probably the most interesting thing about him.

He couldn’t think of something by the time he got to him and he looked up at his coach ashamed. “I don’t know.” He shrugged lightly as he realized how boring he was other then the fact of his father. His father really had paved his entire road so far. 

“You don’t know?” Daisuke cocked his head to the side. “Come on, there’s got to be something about you—ah! I have a good one. How many languages do you speak?”

Reiji realized that Daisuke was trying to help, but he didn’t want to sound like he was bragging. Even if he was prideful about his lineage and who he was, it was still kind of embarrassing. 

“Three.” He answered somewhat quietly.

“Three?!” Hibiki’s voice rang through the room again. He was so loud. “What three?” He asked incredulously.

“Japanese, English, and Italian.” Reiji answered. 

The room let out audible surprised noises as they continued to comprehend what they were hearing. 

“Why Italian?” Teira, a midfielder on the team couldn’t help but ask. English made sense for everyone, since a lot of people knew English, but Italian?

Reiji had worried that that question would be asked if he told the truth. Did Daisuke want him to be more of an outcast? “I’m half.” He explained, feigning confidence about it now. “Half Italian and half Japanese.”

“You are?!” Hibiki turned now to look at his sleepover assignment partner as if he was getting a good look at his features. The rest of the room was now too.

Kageyama could tell they had all concluded he was telling the truth. As if he could read their faces, he could tell they were using it as an excuse. “That’s why he’s so weird” or “no wonder he doesn’t fit in”. Being mixed was always that kind of problem for as long as he was in school. Whenever people brought up his light hair or anglo-features, he had to explain his heritage and that was always awkward. Or whenever they saw his mother, who was blonde-haired, blue-eyed, and fair skinned. As if he was getting the same treatment all over again, he recoiled into himself a bit. The false confidence faded.

“Whoa…that’s so cool.” Hibiki was the first to say anything and it was so genuine, that it made Reiji look at him confused. 

“Huh?”

“Yeah, my thing is way less cool.” Hibiki shrugged as it was his turn to tell about himself. “I was just gonna say I learned how to make fried rice when I was four years old.”

The group laughed again. Even Reiji let out a bit of a chuckle. He was glad the attention was off himself.

\--

By the time it was time to go to sleep, Hibiki had grabbed Kageyama’s attention before they got settled. “Alright, partner, where in the gym do you want to sleep?” 

Kageyama didn’t like sleeping on the hard floors, so he rolled his eyes. “I don’t care.” He said simply as he looked around. It looked like it was going to be cold and uncomfortable no matter what. 

Hibiki took that as a sign to pick a spot, so he plopped his bedding on the floor and started fixing his blankets. “Here’s good.”

Reiji did the same and fixed his bedding next to his partner’s. He figured he had to, since everyone else had been doing it as well. Once he was done, he sat on the floor and looked at the other as he got comfortable as well. 

“Lights out everyone!” Daisuke said as he turned them off. “Time to sleep!” 

Hibiki got comfortable under his blankets and looked at his partner.

Reiji did the same and faced Hibiki as he did so. He gave a pained expression. “Uncomfortable.” He whispered to him.

Hibiki, who was lying on his side as well, tried to suppress his own giggles. “It’s not good.” He finally whispered back. 

“We should have snuck a futon in here.” 

“We should have just brought a whole king-sized mattress.”

“And definitely more blankets. A large duvet or something.”

“And pillows. Those big ones and the small ones that are just for decoration.”

“Perhaps a canopy.”

Their giggling got the attention of their coach, who sat up from his spot on the floor to look at them. “Hibiki. Kageyama. Go to sleep you two.”

The two exchanged glances, and got as comfortable as they could, still giggling a bit.

\--

The next morning, as predicted by himself, Reiji woke up early because he was cold and uncomfortable. Apparently, he moved closer to Hibiki—or Hibiki moved closer to him—in his sleep, and he had to quietly peel himself away from the other without waking him. Fortunately, as it turned out, Hibiki was a heavy sleeper. 

Reiji stayed content to just lie there with his eyes closed trying to sleep again until it was time to wake up. When they did, the teams individually helped clean, and prepare to leave.

Before it was time to go, the players had decided to practice on the pitch. And before too long after that, members started gradually leaving, be it they had somewhere to be, or they were just too tired not too.

Eventually Marie Kageyama showed up at the school to pick up her son, and inevitably, to talk with Daisuke. 

“Endou-san!” She said as she walked up to him on the side lines.

“Marie, it’s good to see you!” Daisuke let her kiss his cheeks which was very characteristic for Italy, but less so for Japan. “Congratulations, I heard you were expecting.”

Reiji had just kicked a ball into the goal, that got through Hibiki with a feint of a kick, when he heard his mothers voice. He gave a sigh. This was going to be awkward.

“Who’s the foreigner?” Kamikura, a defender, asked as he was in earshot of the other.

“Is that your mom?” Hibiki asked as he jogged up to Reiji from the goal post. He thought maybe it was time to let the practice go. 

Reiji sighed a bit. Why were his parents such a spectacle all the time? “Yes…” His voice sounded less then pleased.

“She’s pretty.” Hibiki said genuinely. There was no sound as if he was mocking his new friend or saying it to rile him up.

The other gave a look at him but when he realized he was serious he shrugged. He wondered if the reason he thought that was the “pregnant glow” she talked about every now and then, but he wouldn’t bring that up. 

Kageyama could tell that whatever she and his coach were talking about was serious, but he didn’t really want to interrupt. Even still he looked at his teammates and then started walking that way. 

“Reiji, good morning!” His mother said in Italian as he walked up.

“Good morning, we can go now.” Kageyama spoke in her native tongue back as he was already embarrassed. 

The Raimon Eleven team seemed interested in the new fact about Reiji that he was Italian. They all gawked at the situation it seemed.

Daisuke laughed as he could understand the Italian being spoken. Since he had played in Italy for some time with Kageyama Tougo, he picked up a lot of Italian.

“Are you leaving?” Hibiki asked as he walked up to his new friend. He wasn’t sure what they had said to each other, but he was impressed by the Italian.

“Uh, yes, I think so.” Reiji said back.

“If you want to practice a little longer, I don’t mind.” Marie said in Japanese this time. She liked to practice as she had gotten very fluent over the last fourteen or so years.

“Whoa! You speak Japanese?” Hibiki wasn’t very tactful, but he was truly impressed by her. He wasn’t used to seeing Japanese speaking foreigners.

She giggled a bit. “Yes, of course.” She continued to prove herself.

Surprised and impressed noises were heard from the Raimon Eleven.

Reiji characteristically rolled his eyes and looked back at his mom. “I’m tired, I think I need to rest.” He really didn’t want his parents to be the center of attention anymore. It was already enough to be the weird kid, now he was the weird kid with the weird or famous parents too.

When he said that Hibiki nudged Reiji’s shoulder with his own. “We should hang out later today.” He told him. The goalkeeper was convinced he was going to make friends with the striker he previously hated.

There was a pause, but Kageyama nodded in response eventually. “Yeah, okay.”

“Great, I’ll meet you by the river before sundown!” 

“Yeah, great.” For once a real smile had formed in front of his team.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now there will be more angst.


	5. Holding Hands

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter ahead!!

“Marie, what took you so long?” The drunken question was asked as soon as the two walked into the room. The air was tense as Kageyama Tougo met them in the front hall.

Marie took the tenseness in strides, however. “Oh, I said hello to Endou-san.” She truthfully told him. “He’s going to have a baby so—”

“I told you, you shouldn’t be listening to that man.” He warned again, reaching for his glass from the side table. He fumbled for it a moment before he finally grabbed it and took a sip.

Marie rolled her eyes and forced a smile. “He’s not that bad.”

“He ruined my career—he is that bad!” Tougo retorted and looked at his son. “You shouldn’t listen to him either! That man ruins lives!”

“Tougo, don’t say things like that about our son’s coach. They’re going to be in the football frontier next year.”

“They won’t.” He shook his head. “I don’t want you talking to him, Marie.”

Marie let her shoulders drop a second, knowing that conversing with her husband while he was drunk was going to be a losing situation. She shook her head and started walking off into the kitchen, her favorite place to be.

“Don’t ignore me!”

Reiji found that watching all their problems be brought to light like this was stressful. He knew he couldn’t do anything, and he hated it. He just wanted to go home and eat lunch and then go to the riverbank with his friend, but as things were playing out as they were, would they even let him out of the house?

He started walking down the hall to his room, and then he stopped and turned around. He walked back into the bickering in the kitchen instead.

“You don’t need to control me!” Marie’s voice was stern and irritated.

“I’m not controlling you! I’m looking out for you!”

“You are looking out for me? How could you possibly do that when you can’t even hold down a—”

“Mom?” Reiji cut in, standing in the doorway. 

Marie was clearly upset, but she let out a sigh and looked at her son. “Yes, love?”

“I’m going to the riverbank for a bit.”

“Oh.” She smoothed out her dress as she tried to find the right words to say. “Aren’t you hungry, my love? Let me make you something.”

“I already ate.” He lied. 

Kageyama looked at his son skeptically and then back at his wife. 

“I’ll be back by dinner.” Reiji nodded. “I promise.”

Marie broke a small smile, trying not to let on that she was miserable. “Okay.” She finally agreed and leaned down to kiss her son on the forehead. Right after, she pulled way to look him in the eyes and smiled a bit more. “My, you’re getting tall. Well, have fun, don’t get into any trouble.”

“I won’t.”

\--

Reiji sat on the riverbank for a quite a while, his knees up to his chest. He watched the water beyond the small football pitch at the soccer park, wishing he had something to eat. Then again, even if he did have something, he’d be too anxious to eat it. The constant arguing was starting to take a mental toll on him.

“What are you doing here already, Kageyama?” Hibiki’s familiar voice rang as he walked towards him, soccer ball under his arm.

Reiji looked over at him and smiled a bit. “I was bored.” He lied. 

“Me too!” Hibiki held the ball out to him. “I saw you from my house, I live right over there!” He pointed out towards some buildings, not really making it obvious as to which one. 

“Oh.” Reiji looked over curiously. He wasn’t sure if he liked that.

“Let’s play soccer, then!” Hibiki held out his hand to him grinning all the while.

Reiji took the help up and followed him to the pitch.

\--

Going to the riverbank became an almost daily occurrence. When Reiji wanted to leave his house and forget, he walked to the riverbank and waited for Hibiki to be done doing whatever he had to do. For the most part, he came right out, ready to play, but sometimes he had chores to do. The other didn’t mind.

Because of this, they had grown close. Reiji hadn’t had anyone to confide in before, and suddenly now he had a friend. They spent a lot of time talking, and it didn’t take long for him to finally feel comfortable enough to tell the truth about his household.

“Oh, that’s too bad.” Hibiki said as they sat on the grass, eating the onigiri he had made for them. “I hate when my parents fight.”

Reiji nodded staring down at his feet. He hugged his knees with one arm, anxiously.

“What do they fight about?”

He didn’t look up, and just shrugged. “Usually because my dad can’t keep a job.” He said simply. “And he drinks too much, I think.”

Remembering one of the first things Hibiki said to him was about the rumor of his father’s drinking problem, he felt guilty. He had no words so instead of saying anything, he put his hand on the other boy’s, holding it somewhat tenderly.

Initially, he thought it was a joke, but he realized it wasn’t when he didn’t move. It was the first time that Reiji had had any sort of physical intimacy beyond his mom’s kisses, and it felt nice. He looked down at their hands and felt his face get hot. As a blush formed, he stared back at the water, hoping the other wouldn’t notice his embarrassment.

“Well, I’ll make sure you’re alright.” Hibiki said confidently. “That’s what friends are for, right? I’ll be by your side.”

It was a little much for Reiji to handle, as he felt his face get hotter, but he was grateful at that moment still. He was just too nervous to admit to it.


	6. Strange Teenagers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short, but vital, chapter.

Days went on and they had gotten even closer. They held hands on more than one occasion now and even took a nap on the riverbank together a few times. Reiji had had dinner a few times at Hibiki’s house and had been in his room a few times. 

However, during these same days his family had grown further and further apart. Reiji had spent so much less time at home because his parents were constantly fighting. And to add to the length of the rift between them, they had started fighting about him now.

“The neighbors are starting to get suspicious.” Reiji had heard as he walked into his house after playing soccer at the riverbank. What was his father talking about now?

“Let the neighbors think what they want.” Marie said breathlessly. “They always talk.”

“He’s going to be the reason I don’t get a job, Marie. Everyone’s going to gossip about how off our son is, and how we are letting it happen?”

Reiji’s chest tightened when he heard that. What did he mean “off”?

“He’s not off, Tougo. He’s a normal boy.”

“Holding hands with another boy is not normal. Doesn’t he have any other friends?”

“I don’t know, but you should be happy he has at least one.”

Mixed feelings swirled in the boy’s chest, as he realized that he was now the reason for the turmoil in the family, but his mother seemed to be on his side. His father was quickly becoming even more withdrawn from him, and it seemed like it was because he blamed him for his failure.

Maybe it would be better if he weren’t around…

\--

“What’s going on, your soccer is off today?” Hibiki asked at the goal of the riverbank pitch the next evening. He had caught every single strike into the net, which was not like them. Usually they had a pretty equally solid power dynamic between their skills, but not today.

Kageyama couldn’t stop thinking about what his father said but being with Hibiki made him happy. He was his only friend. He couldn’t just stop playing soccer with him. He really didn’t want to, either.

“I don’t know.” He lied. 

“Come on.” Hibiki walked out of the goal to his best friend. “You know what Endou-san always says, if there’s something on your mind you should let it go so it doesn’t mess up your soccer. You’re letting it mess up your soccer.”

Reiji shrugged. “I think I need to sit down.” He muttered, walking towards the grassy hill.

Hibiki followed and sat down next to him. The sun from behind the hill was turning a dark orange as it set, leaving the boys at the end of their usual time together. But neither of them wanted to leave yet.

“Did something happen with your parents?” He finally asked, knowing that was always the hardships he ended up having. 

Reiji shrugged. “Not really.” He lied. “I just feel off today.” Off. He shouldn’t have used that word since it continued to ring throughout his head. The same word his father used to describe him. He felt guilty. He shouldn’t have been friends with Hibiki like this, but he was too selfish to stop it.

“Mm…” Hibiki hummed thinking about it. He laid back onto the grass, staring up at the clouds that turned pink in the sunset.

After a few moments, Reiji followed and lied back down on the grass as well. He looked over at his friend who looked more then relaxed to stare up at the sky then listen to his problems. He wouldn’t know what to say anyways. He’d rather just sit there.

But he didn’t realize he was staring until Hibiki turned to look at him. He smiled confused. “What?”

“Huh?”

“You look happier, suddenly, Reiji.”

“Oh.” Reiji blushed again hearing his name and averted his gaze.

Hibiki giggled. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”

Still looking away, he shrugged. “I’m just…glad I have a friend I guess.”

“Me too.” Hibiki kept his gaze towards him as he said it. “If you wanna talk about something I can listen.”

It was weird to think that Reiji finally felt this open with someone, to the point of wanting to talk. Even though the situation was so precarious in his head, he wanted to tell him. “It’s just that…Seigou…do you think we are…strange?”

Hibiki’s smile faded. “Strange? What do you mean?”

“I mean…” What did he mean? He had to think about it for a while before going on. “I don’t know. I guess we just hang out all the time. My dad thinks it’s weird.”

Hibiki shrugged back. “I dunno. My parents think it’s normal.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. They like you too.” He chuckled at the thought. 

Seeing his best friend smile brought up so many mixed feelings in his chest. He had never talked this in depth about the two of them before, even though they barely said anything. He felt closer somehow, as if that confirmed all his feelings about him. As if nothing could go wrong. None of his feelings about their friendship could be wrong now, especially if Hibiki didn’t think so.

Before he realized what he was doing, his teenage hormones took over his mind and he leaned over their small space between them. He quickly pressed his lips against the other’s just brushing them slightly before pulling away. He opened his eyes to see his best friend staring up at him, flushed and confused, as he realized what he had just done.

“I-I have to go--!” He stuttered as he stood up as quickly as he could. 

“Wh—"

Before Hibiki could say anything, Kageyama had run off back home.

\--

“I can’t keep living like this Tougo!” Marie’s voice rang through the door.

“You’ll live like this if I say you will!” Her husband was clearly drunk as he slurred his words. “I can do what I want and if I want to drink all day, I will!”

Reiji quickly closed the door behind him and ran to his room. There was no way he could be around the mess when he already messed up his friendship. He closed the door to his room and sat on the floor. He pulled his knees into his chest and choked back the tears. He couldn’t cry, he didn’t want them to him hear him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Teenagers, man.


	7. Match Fixing?

For a few days Reiji avoided Hibiki. Even at practice, he did the bare minimum, and Daisuke could tell.

“Everyone, run four laps around the pitch.” He ordered at a practice. “But Kageyama, I want you to stay here, I have some questions for you.”

Reiji hated to be singled out. He hated it more then anything. He could feel his peers watching him as they complied to their coach’s orders.

Once everyone was out of sight, Daisuke patted the bench next to him. “Sit down.” He ordered.

Kageyama did just that.

“You’ve been acting off.”

Kageyama hated that word.

“Is something going on?” Daisuke asked him sincerely. “Your soccer isn’t the same. And if we are going to make it the Football Frontier, you have to get back into the game.”

Soccer wasn’t really on his mind at all right now. “I’m sorry. I’ll work harder.” He said as he started to stand up.

“No, sit down.” Daisuke said softer this time, looking at him. He waited for him to sit down before he continued. “Did something happen between you and Hibiki? You two used to be tighter than two peas in a pod, and now you’re not talking again.”

Kageyama blushed remembering the kiss—he hated that word. He hated that that’s what he did. He kissed his best friend, like some sort of freak. He shouldn’t have done that.

“No.” He lied. 

Daisuke looked at him suspiciously. “Do I need to do bonding exercises again?”

Remembering how they shared a spot on the gym floor and how they caught each other when they fell made his face flush more. “No.” He shook his head looking away. “We’re just growing apart, I guess.”

Daisuke was silent for a while before he went on. “Well…that’s not what Seigou told me.”

Reiji looked at this coach panicked. “What?! What did he say?!”

The panicked expression on the other’s face, and the rumors that had been stirring around the neighborhood, only brought his own suspicions to light. Not to mention drunken rants by his pupil’s father that he was ruining his son solidified it more.

“Don’t worry.” Daisuke said with a bit of a smile. “You’re not in trouble or anything, I just want you be back to your normal self. I want to see your soccer again.”

This didn’t answer his question, and it only made Kageyama worse. He couldn’t believe that Hibiki would tell on him—why would he tell anyone about what happened What if his father knew?

“Endou-sensei, I have to go.” Kageyama stood up from the bench. “I have to go home.”

Daisuke looked at him curiously. “Kageyama, I think you should—”

“I have to go. I’m sorry.” He said again and bowed towards him. He quickly stood back up and ran off. There was no way he could go back. Not now at least.

\--

When Reiji got home, he didn’t hear fighting for once. All he heard was quiet sobs coming from the dining room. He walked in to see his mother sitting at the table crying into her hands. It wasn’t something he was used to seeing. Usually she was stronger than that.

“Mom?” He said sheepishly to get her attention.

She quickly looked up and wiped her eyes. “Honey! What are you doing home? Isn’t it a little early?” She tried to compose herself as hastily as possible.

“I got off early…are you okay?” He asked as he walked over to her.

She sniffled and gave a small smile. “Yes.” She said, though her voice portrayed the opposite. She opened her arms to him and beckoned him over. “Come here, come give your mom a hug.”

Reiji was used to her affectionate nature, so he walked over and did so. 

“You always know how to make me feel better.” She admitted as she held tight to her son. “It’s just my pregnancy hormones acting up.” 

He didn’t believe her, but he continued to hug her anyways. Part of him needed a hug, as well.

\--

As the second term of the first year of middle school came to a close, Kageyama Reiji attended his last day of the soccer club. He still couldn’t really talk to Hibiki as it had only been a few days now since their incident. He also had rarely seen his father.

The team had shown up to the field to see Daisuke talking to a foreign looking man. Tall, dark, and quite young and well dressed, he had a smile on his face as the group approached.

“Everyone, this is Garshield Bayhan.” Daisuke introduced. “He’s a businessman from abroad whose doing work in the Football Frontier. He’s interested in our soccer team and would like to see you all play.”

“It’s good to meet all of you.” He said with a smile in near perfect Japanese. 

“Everyone, do your best and show him what you can do!”

No one really quite understood the implications of why the man was here, but they all assumed it had something to do with them qualifying for the tournament. So, everyone did as they were told.

It wasn’t until about halfway towards the practice, did anyone notice anything suspicious about the meeting. And it was Kageyama, who was already not really in the right state of mind when he noticed the other two.

“I’m sorry Mr. Bayhan, I don’t agree with you.” Daisuke had said to him in English. Reiji was the only one who could understand.

The foreign man shook his head. “You don’t agree with the world of soccer being in a ruined state? You don’t agree with the world being regulated so that everyone has a fair share at life?” The man said back in the same language.

“I agree with the principle, but we can’t regulate soccer as well. I won’t participate in match fixings. We will only play fair and square.”

Match fixing? Did Kageyama hear that right? Why would they fix matches?

“Kageyama, go back to practice.” Daisuke had noticed he was eavesdropping, so he spoke in Japanese. He didn’t want their guest to get any ideas that the students could understand.

Kageyama did as he was told.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What would a story about Kageyama be without Garshield?


	8. Promises and Lies

At this point, it had been a few days since he’d seen his father. Reiji was finally starting to get suspicious. His mother wasn’t really speaking about it, but he assumed he was coming home late and leaving early. Either way, when he got home from his last day of his first year, she was in a less then happy state.

“Mom? Are you alright? You didn’t come to school today.” He asked curiously in Italian as he walked the kitchen. He had assumed he’d see her at his graduation. Neither of his parents bothered to show up. 

She looked at him confused. “Why would I come to school today?”

“It was graduation.”

Marie looked at her son devasted and shook her head. “Oh, Honey! I forgot I’m so sorry!” She leaned over to him and placed her arms around him in a hug. She sniffled a bit as she was clearly trying to hold back tears. “I’m a terrible mother! I should have been there for you.”

That broke his heart. He shouldn’t have even reminded her. “It’s okay. It’s just my first year. You can be there for my second and third year.” It hurt when he looked to the audience and saw she wasn’t there, but he wasn’t about to hold it against her. Especially not when she was so pregnant, and everything was more difficult for her now.

“You’re right. I’ll be there for you from now on.” She promised. 

\--

However, that promise wasn’t kept. During the short break between first and second year, it was evident that Kageyama Tougo wasn’t coming home. Reiji had asked where he was, and she broke down into tears. She didn’t have answers for him.

Every day during his break, Reiji stayed home unless he left to get groceries. They didn’t have a lot of money, since his father had left them without work in the first place. He was very careful about what to buy. 

He mostly prepared the meals and cleaned the house now. Marie didn’t have the energy to do anything else. She blamed the baby, but every so often would break down in tears about how she was a terrible mother. Reiji had to stay with her, so she knew she wasn’t.

“You should be out playing with your friend.” She sobbed as her son held her. “You shouldn’t be here taking care of your pitiful mom.”

Reiji didn’t have the heart to tell her that he and Hibiki weren’t friends anymore. Not after the kiss—especially since that might have been the reason his father left, or at least that’s what he believed. “You’re not pitiful. Besides, I like spending time with you.” He was lying. He hated being around his mother when she was upset, but he wouldn’t tell her that.

“Thank you, honey.” She said quietly. “You always know how to make me feel better.” 

Reiji resented his father for leaving but throughout his break he always had a feeling he would come back. There had been times when his father would be gone for months due to soccer, and there was a part of him that wanted to believe that’s all this was. However, he knew with the fighting and his mother’s devastated reaction upon brining him up that this was probably not the case.

When the break finally ended, Reiji had had enough, but it wouldn’t change. Per his mother’s request, he decided he would go back to school for the first term of his second year. Though, the soccer club reconvened, but he didn’t attend the first day. He knew he’d have to go home and help his mom with the house, and the last thing he wanted to do was be too tired for that with soccer practice.

He arrived back home on his first day from school to a seemingly empty house. His mother wasn’t in the sitting room, or the kitchen, which was a foreign feeling from the year previous. He knew that she was probably asleep in her room. She claimed the baby made her tired.

Reiji had started on dinner when his mother woke up to see what was going on.

“Love, you’re home early.” Marie noticed as she walked into the kitchen. “What about football club?”

Reiji just shrugged. “It’s not started yet.” He didn’t have the heart to tell her he didn’t want to go back. He didn’t want to say he would be too tired to help around the house, or that he was too afraid to be around Hibiki who he kissed, or Coach Endou who might have known about it. He didn’t want to be around the football club that might bring up the subject of his father.

\--

It took about a week into the new school year for anything to happen.

It was after dinner, so it was pretty late, when he heard the knock at the front door. He was in his room and he was about to get up when he heard his mother walking off to get it. Reiji was thankful because he assumed it was the nosy neighbors come to ask questions and he didn’t want to deal with that.

He couldn’t hear anything but muffled noises from his room, but it still took a moment for him to get curious. When curiosity took over, he regretted it as soon as he walked into the dining room.

At the table was his mother and his soccer coach, drinking tea and talking. Neither of them smiled and they were clearly having a serious conversation.

“Reiji, come sit with us.” His mother beckoned. “Coach Endou has informed me that you haven’t been going to the soccer club.”

Reiji knew he was going to regret it as soon as he sat down. How was he going to explain this?

“Yeah, we’ve missed you on the team.” Daisuke smiled at him.

“Why did you tell me they hadn’t started yet?” Marie asked worried now, a hand on her round stomach, as if she was recoiling into herself.

Reiji didn’t want her to breakdown again, so he shook his head. “I just…don’t want to go.” He said simply. 

“Mm? Why not? We’ll never make it in the Football Frontier without you.” Daisuke tried, still with a smile on his face.

The last thing the teenager in front of them wanted to do was let out all of his emotions at that very table, so he just shrugged. “I’m just not interested in soccer anymore.” It was only partially a lie. Soccer had only given him bad feelings as of late.

Daisuke gave a skeptical look. “Are you sure this doesn’t have to do with anything else?” He asked quietly to his student.

Reiji hoped to god he wasn’t referring to his father. He had no clue how his mother would take it and the last thing he wanted was his mother to start crying in front of him. He shook his head. “No.”

“Are you sure it doesn’t have to do with Seigou?”

Reiji had forgotten that that was the other thing he didn’t want him to bring up. “No, it doesn’t.” Again, it was partially a lie. 

“He misses you at soccer club.” Daisuke smiled. “I think he misses being friends with you.”

The teenager’s face got hot at the implication, and he shook his head. He was at a loss for words, clearly, so he decided he wouldn’t try to speak.

“Honey, did something happen with you and your friend?” Marie asked and placed her hand on his. “You two were so close, weren’t you? You aren’t friends anymore?”

Reiji hated that he was going to have to explain this somehow. He hoped that Daisuke really had no idea what was going on. Maybe he could lie his way out of this. “We just have different interests. We aren’t the same.” He shrugged. They weren’t the same. The kiss he stole was clearly evident of that.

“I think you guys are more similar then you think.” Daisuke gives a bit of a chuckle. “Look, Kageyama, come back to practice. You don’t have to play, but your team misses you.”

“You’re such an amazing football player, love, it would be a shame if you gave it up.” Marie said with worry in her voice. She just wanted her son to be successful. 

Reiji realized there was no getting out of this, so he agreed. It’s what his mother wanted anyways. He just wasn’t sure how he was going to get around seeing Hibiki.

\--

Going back to practice was a strange experience. Kageyama had mostly closed himself off throughout the whole thing. He didn’t speak in the locker room, and he didn’t speak when he sat on the bench as the others warmed up.

“You really don’t wanna join them, Kageyama?” Daisuke asked, crossing his arms and standing by the bench.

“No.” Reiji said bitterly. Soccer made him tired and reminded him of his father. Two things he didn’t want to worry about when he got home.

Daisuke gave a bit of a sigh. “Do you know why I want you on that field?” He finally asked.

Reiji was curious, but he didn’t move. He didn’t want him to know he was even listening.

“Because you have a gift, Reiji. You see the field in the same way your father did—no, better than he ever did. You’re truly a gifted playmaker. Sure, Hibiki is a good captain, but he can’t capture the field and the team like you can. Honestly, I don’t know if we would win the Football Frontier without you.”

Hearing that made Kageyama’s blood boil. He hated being compared to his father, even if it was the good. He hated that man’s soccer.

“Also, I think you’re just what the soccer world needs right now.” 

Reiji rolled his eyes. He had no idea what he meant by that.

\--

“Hey, I have to talk to you.” Hibiki stated as he cornered Kageyama in the locker room that same day. Everyone else had gone, and he made sure of that. He told his team this was going to be the plan and he was going to get their striker back.

Kageyama didn’t like being cornered by the boy he kissed in a closed off room. He suddenly felt a real fear, a feeling he hadn’t felt in a while. He was helpless to a boy he was sure had a vendetta against him. He wasn’t sure why he felt that way, but he was sure of it.

“I don’t want to talk to you—”

“Why have you abandoned the soccer club?” Hibiki asked, slamming his hand onto the wall behind the other, to stop him from leaving.

“What?” Reiji was thrown off guard by being so close to the captain as well getting a question that didn’t involve their previous actions. He shook his head incredulously. “I’m here, aren’t I? I’m not abandoning anything.”

“You are! Even though you’re here, you’re not doing anything! Why are you giving up?”

Giving up. Kageyama did not like that term. It felt too familiar. It felt like—

“You’re acting like your dad!” 

As if Hibiki was reading all of his insecurities, he brought that up at the absolute worst time. Reiji clenched his jaw, ready to throw a punch if he had to. “You take that back!” He growled, doing everything he could to stop himself from losing his composure.

“No!” His captain exclaimed. “No! I won’t take it back because you’re too good! You’re too good to end up like him! And you’re not like him!”

“I’m not like him!” Kageyama agreed with him on that but he finally lost his composure and pushed him out of the way. Hibiki fell back only a couple of feet, letting the other stand up straight to him. “And I’m not acting like him, because I’m not going to lose! I won’t be like him!” He didn’t realize how much of a complex he’d gained around becoming like the man who had left his family. He hadn’t even told Hibiki about how he had gone, but he somehow knew how to use it against him.

He began walking towards the door but stopped when he heard his former best friend’s words.

“Then help us win the Football Frontier.” He suggested with the same conviction in his voice, but in a lower tone. The conviction of a captain.  
Kageyama didn’t move.

“If we win the Football Frontier, that would prove everything you just said. And we can only win with you on the team. Prove you aren’t like your dad and help us win.”  
He stared at the door, listening to his words.

“And…we miss you. I miss you.”

Reiji hadn’t realized that he still had feelings for his former best friend either, at least not until he said that. He blushed again thankful he was facing the door so the other couldn’t see. He reached for the handle, opening the door. “I’ll think about it.” He gave in and rushed out as fast as he could.

While his captain had been successful in getting him to reconsider his position on the soccer team, the fact that he had feelings for him was still too much. He couldn’t think about that right now, he couldn’t think of that ever. The feelings were too unnatural, and he knew they were wrong, so he decided he would try to forget. Maybe focusing on his anger towards his father would help. Maybe focusing on the Football Frontier would help…


	9. Distractions

As suspected, putting his energy to soccer did help. Reiji went back into practice with a new sense of himself, coupled with the desire to win and the desire to forget about his strange romantic feelings. He hadn’t quite made up with Hibiki yet, but every now and then the captain would smile at him or give him a compliment. The same went for the rest of the team.

Marie was much happier to see her son doing something he loved, but it always saddened her when he came home so exhausted.

“Love, let me make dinner.” She said as the boy walked into the kitchen on autopilot when he came home. It took her a bit to roll off the couch with her round stomach. Moving had certainly got harder.

He looked over at his mother struggling to get up off her spot on the couch. He was exhausted, his legs hurt, and his feet hurt, but he knew he had more energy than she did. “Don’t worry about it.” He said back in Italian. “You shouldn’t be up too much anyways, isn’t that what the doctor said?”

Marie was glad to hear a more pleasant tone in her son’s voice. It was what she needed from the sudden tragedy in her life. “I suppose, but you do so much already, Reiji.”

“That’s fine.” He called back to her from the kitchen as he already started to wash a pot of rice. 

She gave a sigh hearing her son. “Okay, but please tell me if you need help.” 

“I promise I will.” He wouldn’t.

She sat down carefully, a hand on her stomach nervously.

\--

“Alright, gather around everyone.” Daisuke had said after a practice the day before their first competition match. He waited until the gaggle of players did as they were told in the club room, all looking at him with curiosity. 

Well, everyone except Hibiki, who knew what was coming.

Daisuke looked around. “Tomorrow, is our first match, and I truly believe we can win it.” He stated confidently. “I know you all will do your best, for the good of the Raimon Soccer Club. We will show them what Raimon’s soccer is really about.”

There were many scattered noises of approval before he went on.

“However, that’s not what I want to talk to you all about, since I trust you all.” He chuckled. “I’m here because the Junior High Soccer Association asked me to choose a student from our soccer club to act as vice president.” 

The players all looked at each other confused. It seemed like no one was expecting this talk. Well, no one except for Hibiki. He stood smug off to the side. Kageyama could tell with that face, that he and Coach Endou had already talked about it. He knew what the outcome of this would be already, but he looked back at his coach anyways.

“The reason that the president wanted me to choose was because he wanted the opinion of a professional soccer player, because this person will be dealing with the ins and outs of the soccer business. This needs to be someone who is passionate for the sport, and intelligent enough to handle this area of expertise. They will help make a lot of decisions for the sake of youth soccer.” 

Reiji chuckled. He imagined the sight of a confused Hibiki trying to keep up with all the technical aspects of the business side of soccer. He would drown. He felt kind of bad thinking about it, really, but he wouldn’t admit that. 

“So, I thought very hard about who I’d choose for such a position and I asked for many opinions.”

Well, of course, everyone liked Hibiki. No matter who he asked, they’d probably nominate him. That’s what made him a captain anyway.

“So, without further ado, I present to you the new Vice President of the Junior High Soccer Association,” Endou Daisuke held out his hand to Hibiki who walked forward. 

How obvious.

“Kageyama Reiji!”

Applause roared around the room as Reiji stopped a moment when he heard his name. It took a second to process, considering he just watched Hibiki take a step towards him simultaneously. “What?” He finally managed.

Hibiki walked towards his former best friend and held out a small opened box, with a ribbon and a pin on it. “Congratulations!” He smiled at him and nudged the box. “You get an official marker of the position. Look, it has your name on it.”

Kageyama tentatively, and somewhat shakily, took the box in his hands to see the familiar kanji. It was, in fact, his name. “I don’t understand.” He said as he looked at it again and back between his captain and his coach.

Daisuke chuckled. “Well, like I said, I had to choose someone passionate and intelligent enough to make smart decisions.” He walked over and pat the boy on his back. “Who better then my ace striker and genius playmaker?”

Those words completely knocked the wind out of the boy. He had been praised for his actions seldomly in the past year or so. He hadn’t really been used to being called a genius. Was he really that valuable? Did they really need him on the team that much? He never realized how highly his coach thought of him.

“I-I…” He stuttered trying to compose himself again. He shook his head as he realized he was still in shock. Why was he acting this way? He didn’t even want this position that badly. “Thank you.”

Coach Endou smiled wider. “You earned it. Now, you’re going to have to attend some meetings, but they’re not far from here. If you ever need a ride feel free to call me. I’ll be there morning, noon, or night.” 

Kageyama was still trying to compose himself and he just nodded with the words. He’d figure out the meetings somehow.

Endou reached into his teaching bag he kept in the club room and handed a stack of papers to the other. “This is some of the files they sent me to give to you. You can study them on your off time. It’s a big responsibility, but I know you can do it.”

“Kageyama is the smartest person I know, that’ll be a piece of cake for him.” Hibiki placed his hand on his other shoulder, mirroring what his coach had done previous. “I tried to read those before and it kind of made my head spin. I don’t think I’ll ever go into business.” He chuckled at his own joke at his expense.

Reiji looked at him. “Did you…you read these?” He couldn’t read the words on the paper now. He was just trying to figure out how this all happened.

“Well, sure.” Hibiki shrugged. “I wanted to make sure you’d be able to follow them! Especially since I couldn’t.”

“Hibiki told me you’d be perfect for the job.” Daisuke informed. “As did a few other members around here, but I always consult with the captain first.” 

“Yeah, who’d you think would get this job? Me?” Hibiki laughed incredulously. “You’re smart enough for this stuff, so I chose you.” 

Daisuke had chosen Kageyama from the beginning, but he was going to get other opinions from the team. He knew that Kageyama Tougo had a knack for understanding the business side of the sport, so he assumed that his son would have the same gift. He truly thought the boy was talented enough to surpass his father, and this type of ego boost might help that. Especially after knowing that Tougo had recently left his family, he knew the boy would need to be distracted. Not only that, but Reiji needed to know he had friends on the team. That’s how he was going to prove it.

Kageyama was busy reveling in the compliments from his teammates and his coach. He had never felt so appreciated by them before. As he eventually left the soccer club for the day, he walked out with his former best friend who gave him one last smile before they parted ways.

This new type of pride he was feeling as well as the warmth inside of him from a simple smile, gave him a new skip in his step.

He couldn’t wait to tell his mom.

\--

However, the same night when he got home, he came back to a quiet house. His mother wasn’t in the living room, or the kitchen, so he wandered off to her bedroom to find her.

As he did, he saw her sitting on her bed with her eyes closed and a rosary in her hands, praying. He wasn’t about to interrupt her, but she happened to notice the new entity in the room. 

She looked up with tired eyes and a faint smile. “Reiji, you’re home.” She said simply. “Sorry, Love, I haven’t started dinner.”

She never did anymore, but she always mentioned it. “That’s alright, I’ll make dinner.” Upon noticing her melancholy expression, he felt his own initial happiness drop. He hated seeing his mother like this. “Did something happen?”

Marie paused a moment and then shook her head. “No, nothing you need to worry about.” She said simply. “You’re too young to worry about these kinds of things.”

Reiji had gotten that same statement a few times when it came to his parents bickering, and then his father leaving, and then again when money troubles happened. “I’m not too young. You can tell me, if you want.” 

She lifted herself up off her seated position on the bed and shook her head. “No, it’s going to be alright.” The despair in the tone of the statement overshadowed the positive words. 

He didn’t like the way that felt, so he decided to change the subject as he followed her into the kitchen. “Well…I won the position for Vice President of the Junior High Soccer Association.” He said with a bit more pep in his voice.

“Oh, that’s nice.” Clearly, Marie’s mind was elsewhere. The words came off less then sincere. She reached for the supplies to make dinner instead.

Reiji looked at the floor realizing that he wasn’t going to get a good reaction out of her. It was disappointing and it hurt, but clearly something was going on. He hated being out of the know.

He decided to keep his mouth shut and help with dinner instead.


	10. Something Didn't Feel Right

Their first game went off without a hitch. It seemed like everyone fell into the playmaking style that Reiji brought to the field and it led them to a steep victory of 3-0. Two goals of which Kageyama made himself, the last was a play goal assisted by him but made by Tamiyama.

He was sad that his mother couldn’t make it to the game, but there was no way she could in her condition. She was due any day now, she kept saying.  
Reiji told her about the game and how it went, but she seemed distracted again. She gave simple answers to his explanation of the plays they made, but he tried anyways. At that moment he really wished his father was around. He might have been more interested to hear…

That same week, he had his first meeting with the Soccer Association as well. He studied up on the papers he was given, and he had a couple of questions and points to make about the use of the tournaments and where the budget goes for it. He knew he was only supposed to be a student representative, but if he had some say, he would do his best.

When he went to the first meeting, he was greeted as an equal among the adults and teachers. Reiji was even able to ask questions and make suggestions throughout the whole meeting. Keeping up actually wasn’t that difficult at all. He understood the business end of it well.

\--

By their second game, Kageyama and Hibiki had become friends again, however, Reiji didn’t make time to go to the riverbank with him. He wanted to be close, but the underlying romantic feelings forbade him to, and not only that, but he didn’t want to explain to him what happened with his father. 

And with their second game in the tournament, they had won again. They were now two for two in their games which meant that they were even closer to the regional match. It was starting to look more and more promising.

However, when Kageyama walked back home after the game, he was stopped by a neighbor before he even got into the house.

“Reiji-kun, your mother is at the hospital.”

Reiji looked confused for a moment and then realized why she was there. He shook his head and bowed at the well-intentioned neighbor politely. “Thank you!” He said and began heading off towards the hospital. With a bit of a jog in his step, he made his way there in no time at all. He hoped his mother hadn’t walked.

When he got into the hospital, he explained his situation to the front desk and a nurse took him to his mother. He had no idea what to expect when he saw her, so there was a bit of anxiety welled up in his chest. She had been so upset for the last few days, would she be alright? Is there a complication he didn’t know about? 

Luckily, when he arrived in the room, his mother was smiling at a bundle in her arms.

“Reiji!” She exclaimed breathlessly and smiled as she did so. 

It was such a relieving feeling to see her smile again. However, he had a feeling of disappointment that his father wasn’t there to enjoy it. “Hey, mom. How are you?” He asked as he took a few steps closer.

“Oh, I’m fine.” She giggled a bit. “Come see your baby brother.”

Reiji did as requested and got closer. As he did, he could see the little squished face of the infant wrapped in a blanket bundle. The baby didn’t move in his sleep except for a little twitch of the lips. It was a surreal experience to see the baby that had been on the way for so long now.

“Hideaki, big brother Reiji has come to see you.” Marie said faintly and looked at him. “Do you want to hold him?”

He didn’t but he knew his mother wanted him too. “Sure.”

“Come, sit down.” She moved over just barely, clearly too exhausted to do anymore. She waited until he did so to gently place the baby in his arms.

Reiji took him very gingerly, and very slowly. He was so little and so fragile, he was so afraid of breaking him, even if he just sat in his arms. The baby twitched a bit as he got resituated, but he continued to sleep.

“Aw, he likes you.” Marie giggled. 

Reiji thought he was pretty cute the more he looked at him. 

\--

It took a bit for the family to go back home. They held Marie and Hideaki for a few days at the hospital before they got the okay to go home, which meant that Reiji was home alone for a while. 

While many people visited Marie in the hospital, Reiji had also gotten a visitor when he was home alone for those few days.

Reiji had opened the door and saw a familiar face of the foreign man who visited their school. What was his name? 

“Good evening.” The man smiled at the boy in front him. “Kageyama Reiji, right? Do you remember me? I visited your football club at Raimon. Garshield Bayhan.” He spoke in Japanese and held out a hand to him as he did so.

Reiji confusedly took his hand and shook it. “Yes, I remember.” He said skeptically. “Is…there something I can help you with?” 

“I hope so.” He smiled wider as he took his hand back. A strange crook in his brow formed before he spoke. “Is your father around? Kageyama Tougo?”

Reiji looked down and then back up at him. “No, sorry.” He said simply. He chewed on his lip a moment as the other man nodded.

“That’s too bad. I have some business with him.” Garshield shook his head. “Well, how about your mother?”

“She’s at the hospital.” Reiji explained. 

“Oh dear, that’s unfortunate. I hope it’s nothing serious.”

“She just had a baby.”

“Ah, well congratulations to her! And to you, you’re going to be a great big brother.” Garshield reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card. “Well, when your father gets home, could you hand him this card and tell him to call me?”

Kageyama nodded obediently, but there was something strange about the man. Something off-putting. He had an air about him that was unhealthy, or uncomfortable. Perhaps, unsafe? Even if his father did come home, he wouldn’t want to give him the phone number. “Yes, sir.”

“And I look forward to your matches at the Football Frontier.” Garshield grinned. “Raimon is doing exceptionally. Those goals you scored were brilliant. You could have a real career in this.”

“Thank you.” He said again and held onto the door. He really wanted to get away and close it, but he didn’t want to be rude either.

“Well, have a good rest of your night. I’ll see you at your game next week.”

Kageyama bid him farewell and closed the door. He took a few seconds to do so, but he locked it afterwards. Something didn’t feel right about that.

\--

Finally, Marie and Hideaki were able to return home, however, Reiji no longer had any peace. Them being back meant he needed to step up in the house even more. 

After soccer practice, he came right home to make dinner, or went to the store to get ingredients for dinner. After dinner, he helped put the baby to sleep and cleaned up. At night time, he helped put the baby back to sleep when he woke up screaming. Marie tried to do more, but she was still so weak after giving birth, that standing for too long was even hard on her.

She said it was nothing to worry about, and that she could help, but Reiji didn’t allow it. She clearly wasn’t well enough to do basic household chores. He assumed it was just the usual tired that comes with having a baby. He knew how hard the pregnancy was on her in the first place. He didn’t hold it against her, but he was very tired.

When he got to school, he inadvertently slept through a lot of his classes. He tried to save all his energy for soccer club.

“Why are you so tired lately?” Hibiki asked as he walked into the club room and saw Kageyama’s head leaned against the table.

Apparently, saving his energy still didn’t work. “The baby keeps me up all night.” He muttered as he lifted his head finally. “He’s loud.” 

Daisuke laughed. “I know that feeling.” His daughter hadn’t been born too long ago, and he loved to talk about her. “My baby didn’t sleep throughout the night for weeks. She still doesn’t all the time.”

Reiji groaned.


	11. Bounce Back in No Time

As the days went on the Kageyama household got more and more tired. With Reiji’s extracurriculars, on top of schoolwork and helping with the household, he was tired. Every day felt like he was dragging throughout the days, but more importantly, he could tell his mom felt the same way.

Marie was more tired than usual. She wouldn’t tell her son she felt ill, as not to worry him, but she clearly wasn’t doing well. She was so tired some days that getting up was hard.

Reiji could tell she was struggling still, but he did his best to help.

\--

“Kageyama!” Daisuke’s voice boomed on the field after the boy had missed another pass during practice. They were leading up to their third game and their soccer had not been as strong as he wanted. 

Reiji slowed his run to a stop and looked at the coach. He knew he was in trouble. “Yes, Coach?”

“Sit this practice match out.” Daisuke ordered. 

“Coach, we need him to practice!” Hibiki argued from the goal. He knew that his best friend didn’t like to be singled out, so he hoped this would help in some way.

Daisuke looked at him. “My word is final. Kageyama. Bench.”

Reiji gave a look to Hibiki as if to thank him for trying, and he reluctantly walked off the pitch. He didn’t make eye contact with his coach as he passed him to sit on the bench behind him.

However, Coach Endou took a step back and sat down on the bench next to him. “How have you been?” He asked him quietly.

Reiji shrugged. “Fine.” He lied. He was exhausted and angry that his father wasn’t home. He was still in love with his best friend and he hated himself for it. He started to resent his baby brother for even being in the house as well. He was falling apart.

“Your homeroom teacher tells me you’re falling asleep in class.” Daisuke says, knowing it contradicted Reiji’s previous statement. “And your playstyle is…well, I guess sleepy is a good way to put it. The baby keeping you up?”

Kageyama rolled his eyes thinking about it. He slumped on the bench, resting his elbows on his knees lifelessly. “Yeah, pretty much.” Though that was the understatement of the century. 

“Yeah, they do that.” Daisuke looked around, making sure no one was in earshot and looked back at him. “I guess it’s tough being the man of the house at your age huh?” He knew Reiji wasn’t disclosing the issue with his father, but Marie had already told him in confidence. 

Kageyama looked up at him confused a moment and then looked away. He assumed his mother told him and shrugged. “I guess.” He muttered quietly.

“I know things are tough right now,” Daisuke began. “But they’ll get better. Eventually, that baby will sleep through the night, and your mom will be able to help around the house more. Your mother is a strong woman. She uprooted her whole life and learned a completely new culture to be with the man she loved. And she did it seamlessly it seems. She’ll bounce back in no time.”

It was weird how much he actually knew about his life, and it didn’t really help for the time. Reiji knew that his mother was strong, but she was weak now, emotionally and physically. He couldn’t imagine there would be a way for her to bounce back at least it didn’t seem like it. Plus, he wasn’t about to talk about all his issues with the man that his father didn’t trust. He didn’t want to admit it, but he still had kept what his father said to his heart. Daisuke was the man who ruined his career. He wanted to trust his coach, but there was a part of him that wouldn’t let him. He always thought, ‘what if my father came back?’

“And if you ever need anything, anything at all, you can ask me.” Endou placed a hand on his striker’s back. “Even just a bed to sleep in for a nap. My girl is pretty quiet mostly now, so you’d probably get some rest.” He chuckled at his own words.

Reiji wasn’t pleased, but he just nodded politely. 

\--

Raimon’s next soccer game came and went, and thankfully they won that game as well. However, the score was only 1-0 and Kageyama didn’t score. Coach Endou didn’t dwell on it, because a win was a win, and they would just focus on the next game.

Reiji still didn’t sleep well, but he was getting used to it now. Waking up in the middle of the night to shush the baby to sleep, or bring him to his mother to nurse, was getting easier as time went on. However, he still didn’t have time for his best friend.

“Do you want to meet at the riverbank today?” Hibiki asked after school on a day they didn’t have practice.

Reiji sighed. “I can’t, I told my mom I’d go to the store for her.” Even though they had been patching up their friendship, they definitely had no time for each other. However, it would be a lie if Kageyama said he didn’t appreciate it. He needed his strange feelings to die down before he could do anything with the one friend he had.

“Oh.” Hibiki muttered disappointed. “Well, I’ll go with you then.”

Kageyama looked at him confused and then gave a half-hearted shrug. “Alright, sure, I guess. It won’t be fun, though.”

Hibiki laughed. “That’s fine. I don’t care, as long as we get to hang out.”

That simple thought made Reiji blush, as he continued to walk that way. He gave a bit of a chuckle. “I guess you can help me get the ingredients for dinner.” He joked.

“Sounds good.”

It took a few minutes for them to get to the store and a few minutes for them to pick out the ingredients. Reiji was very particular about the money he spent because he didn’t know how much they had. That thought always worried him—but he didn’t want to let Hibiki know he was anxious about that.

When they were done at the store, Hibiki helped carry a bag of groceries back to the house. “Hey maybe I can finally meet your brother.” He chuckled. 

Reiji shrugged. “He’s not much but if you want too, I guess you can. I’ll see if he’s sleeping first.” The last thing he wanted was a screaming baby all throughout making dinner. 

When he got to the house, he asked Hibiki to wait in the entry way and put the groceries down. He walked into his mother’s bedroom and saw her holding the baby. She looked extremely tired. “Hello, mom, how’s the baby?” He asked in Italian as he walked in.

Marie giggled at him. “He’s fine. Why do you ask?”

“Seigou wants to meet him. I thought I could carry him out there.”

She looked up at him surprised. She had no idea he had made friends with that boy again. “Oh, really? Let me go with you—”

“You can rest.” He interrupted her. “You look tired, don’t worry, I can carry him.” He genuinely was worried about his mother. She seemed more and more lifeless every day and its scared him. Perhaps if she could rest more, she’d get better.

She paused a moment and smiled. “Well…alright, Love. Well, I’ll see how I feel in a few minutes.”

Reiji smiled at her lightly, a bit of an anxious tinge of a smile. He was so worried for her, but he didn’t want to admit it. He took the baby from her arms, now holding him expertly. He got very confident at caring for the baby over the month.

He walked down the hall and up to Hibiki. “This is Hide.” He’d taken to calling him the nickname as he took care of him. He saw Hibiki’s face light up with curiosity. “I don’t know why you wanted to see him. He’s just a baby.”

“Hide?” Hibiki chuckled touched the baby’s little hand with gentle fingers. “He’s so tiny…I don’t think I’ve ever seen a baby this tiny.”

Reiji laughed. “Tiny? He’s big!” He adjusted the boy in his arms. “The doctors told me and Mom that he came out late and so he was pretty big.”

Hibiki laughed. “He looks so small!” He looked at the baby’s curious eyes who seemed to be confused by the new entity in their house. Hibiki couldn’t help but smile. “I guess I’ve never really seen a newborn baby, though.”

“You’re not missing much.” Kageyama shrugged. “They just cry a lot and eat a lot.” Though he had a very soft spot for his brother during the day when he wasn’t making his life hard. He resented him at night when he wanted to sleep. He looked up at his best friend with an idea. “Do you want to hold him?” 

Hibiki looked a little panicked. “What if I drop him?” He asked clearly wanting to say yes. He was so curious about the baby in the first place, of course he wanted to hold him.

Reiji looked at him incredulously. “Well, I would hope you’d use those skills you have as a goalkeeper and catch him.” He rolled his eyes, as Hibiki gave a bit of a laugh. Hibiki always laughed at his jokes. “Hold your arms out and I’ll put him down. It’s easy once you get used to it.”

Hibiki held out his arms tentatively as Reiji took a step closer to him. “What if he starts to cry?”

“He’s a baby, that’s what they do half their lives.” Reiji placed the boy in his arms and helped him cradle his head and get him situated. He looked at his face, that was mere inches away, to see how he was faring. He had a soft expression down at the baby, so he assumed it was fine. Unfortunately for Reiji, the expression made him like him even more. 

Hide didn’t cry or even stir. He just stared up at both of them with his curious baby eyes.

“Wow. He’s heavy.” Hibiki laughed a bit and looked back at his best friend. “You’re right, he’s kind of big.” His eyes averted from his best friend when he saw his mother down the hall. To him, she looked different, but he knew it was her. She looked…sick. “Hello, Kageyama-san.”

Reiji looked over to see his mom and stopped. She should really be resting. Something wasn’t right…

“Hello, Seigou-kun.” She said and walked over to them, giving a soft expression at her own baby. “Aw, you’re a natural at holding him.”

Hibiki just gave a bit of laugh.

It took a few minutes of talking about school and the baby, for Hibiki to finally have to leave back to his house. Perhaps it was the odd air in the room, the depressing state of everyone around that made him want to go, but he wouldn’t say that.

They said their goodbyes and Marie went to feed the baby who started to get fussy. Reiji went to make dinner, already exhausted.

\--

Besides the winning score, the next game wasn’t very eventful. Kageyama still wasn’t doing the best he usually would, given the amount he had to do on a daily basis. Though, his playmaking still got them to victory. So far, they were unbeaten, and the only other school that had an all winning score was Teikoku Academy. 

After the game, Reiji’s immediate thought was wondering how fast he could get home. He knew his mother said it was okay that he wasn’t home, but he still worried. Her weakness was a constant stress on him.

But the team was stopped before they made it to the locker room. 

“Congratulations.” Garshield was there waiting for them. 

“Mr. Garshield.” Daisuke said with a slight hint of bitterness in his voice. “Long time no see.” 

Garshield gave a chuckle. “Yes, for you. I’ve been at each one of your games.” He grinned when he caught Kageyama’s vision. “You all have been excelling in the past few games. I’m very interested in where you’ll go. Regionals is only one game away.”

“Yeah, and by the way it’s looking, it’s going to be against Teikoku.” Daisuke gave a bit of a chuckle back. “I know you’ve got some business dealings with them. You must be proud.”

“Just as proud as I am of you all.” Garshield let his eyes wander around the whole group. “No matter the outcome, it should be interesting.”

“Well, it was good to see you.” Daisuke lied. He had a very sour view of Garshield, clearly. “I’ve got to get these kids back to their homes.”

“I’ll see you at the next game.” Garshield promised as Daisuke lead the players into the locker room.

\--

When Reiji got home his mother wasn’t home, but a neighbor was holding the baby.

“You’re home.” The neighbor told him and walked to the door. “You have to come with me. Your mother is in the hospital.”

Kageyama didn’t ask any questions, he just followed.


	12. We'll Get Through This Together

As expected, Marie’s health had been deteriorating for a while. She had been putting off going to the hospital which only led to her getting sicker and sicker. By the time Reiji got to see his mother, she was in a coma. It was looking grim. 

Reiji had cradled his brother in his arms as he sat in the room with tears staining his cheeks. He didn’t want to lose the only parent he had for the time. Especially since he had grown even more attached to his mother since the incident with his father.

Hours went by, and the unthinkable happened; Kageyama Tougo ended up in Marie’s hospital room.

“Dad?” Reiji asked incredulously as he saw him walk through the door.

Kageyama Tougo looked at his two sons, one of which he hadn’t met yet, and then his wife. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He walked over to her and cradled her face in his hands. “Marie…” He whispered in despair, letting tears fall.

Reiji wanted to be angry, but he couldn’t. He wanted to ask him if he knew how hard it had been for her? If he knew how sad she was without him. But he couldn’t bring himself to do so. Especially not after seeing how upset he was too. Right now, was not the time to tell him how hard it had been without him.

“Reiji…” Tougo looked back at him as he stood back up. “Can…can I see your brother?”

Reiji stood up and walked over to him, holding the baby out to him. He let him take him.

“Hideaki…you look just like her…” He muttered sadly.

It was only a few minutes that went by when there was another visitor.

“Kageyama?” Daisuke’s voice rang through the hospital room as he saw his old teammate. “Kageyama I’m so—”

“Leave my family alone!” Tougo made no hesitation to tell him how he felt. He handed the baby back to Reiji and walked over to him, grabbing him by the shirt. “My family is none of your business!”

“I’m sorry!?” Daisuke held up his hands as a means of surrender. “I’ll go, I just wanted to see if—”

“I don’t care! Get out of my wife’s hospital room!”

Daisuke waited until the other let go of him before he looked at Reiji. The boy looked so concerned but he wouldn’t pry. Not now. “Okay…I’ll go.” He said and gave a glance to Marie before leaving.

“The nerve of him…” Tougo mumbled.

\--

It didn’t take long for Marie to pass away. Her body wasn’t strong enough to stop her organs from shutting down and she passed painlessly in the coma. It was a long time in the hospital to get everything sorted, but eventually they got home.

Kageyama Tougo reached for the liquor cabinet when he got home and Reiji just held his baby brother, following him. 

“I’ll deal with the funeral arrangements in a moment.” Tougo muttered as he poured himself a glass.

Those words were all it took to make Reiji lose himself. He sniffled, trying to hold back tears unsuccessfully. The fact his mother was gone was too hard. 

Tougo wasn’t emotionally available to be there for his son, so he just gave the same exhausted, depressed look. He could only sympathize in the way that he was just as upset. He felt guilty for leaving, and he felt guilty for being at the house then. 

“It’ll be okay.” Tougo finally said, taking a sip of his drink. “We’ll get through this together.”

Having his father back in his life was strange and confusing but Reiji was relieved. He didn’t want to do this alone, and it seemed like his father was finally back. Together, he had said. They would get through this together. He nodded in response.

“Hide is fussy…I have to make formula.” Thankfully Reiji had learned how to do that before his mother died.

\--

Reiji didn’t go to school, and his father didn’t make him either. He decided he was going to stay home until the funeral. 

The funeral came just as quickly and before it ended, Tougo was drunk already. He had been drinking to numb the pain and it led to him getting in a fight with Daisuke.

Both of them had been crying for the loss of Marie, but Tougo was mad.

“This is all your fault!” He yelled at his former teammate. In a drunken rage he had somehow made that connection.

“Tougo—” Daisuke shook his head at him. 

“If you hadn’t gotten me kicked off the national team, she wouldn’t have been in this state!”

“Tougo…you know that’s not true.”

“Why did you even bother showing your face here!? Didn’t I tell you to leave my family alone!”

“Marie was my friend!”

“She would have lived if you didn’t ruin my family!” He stumbled towards him again and fought his impulse to punch him. “If you didn’t ruin my career we wouldn’t have been in this situation! She would be here right now!”

Daisuke was stumped by his accusation. He never was at a loss for words, but this time he was truly confused. He knew that Tougo was drunk, and by denying the fact that he was the reason his career ended would only make more confrontation. He looked at the younger Kageyama knowing that he didn’t need that right now. 

“Just go.” Tougo was able to finally calm down. “Don’t bother my family anymore.”

Daisuke sighed and did as he was told. A hole in his heart remained from the friend he lost.

\--

In the grief, Reiji missed the next game. There was no way he would have been able to play. It was the day after the funeral, and he didn’t even feel well enough to go to school yet.

He had spent the time that he could with his father and brother. However, his father spent his days drinking away his pain. He was even more obvious about it then he used to be. He woke up and drank, without a thought.

One morning, Reiji had woken up early to feed his brother when his father woke up. He walked into the kitchen and got a drink and sat down at the table.

“I can’t do this.” He finally muttered to his son. 

Reiji’s heart broke, knowing he was in grief the same way. He shook his head. “We’ll get through this together.” He mirrored the same words from his father, from only days earlier.

Tougo took a sip of his drink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this is so short, but its so sad I could only write so much LOL (also the next chapter is....also sad so get ready).


	13. I'm sorry

Getting to practice was awkward. None of them knew how to deal with the news that Reiji had lost a mother. None of them had ever dealt with the same grief. 

Daisuke was exceptionally soft on Reiji during practice. He could see the boy was struggling. Instead he was harder on the others.

“Hibiki.” Daisuke called from the line. He had just watched the boy easily catch the strike from Reiji. “You need to work on your form. You’re lucky Kageyama went easy on you, but with the way you are, you couldn’t stop one of his harder shots.”

Hibiki nodded and pouted a moment. He looked at his best friend and shrugged.

Kageyama looked down and ran back to his starting position.

“Everyone, we have to be on our game, since the regional match is next.” Daisuke continued calling to the team. “With Teikoku being our opponent for the Kanto representative at nationals, we are at a definite disadvantage. So, let’s do our best!”

It wasn’t a great pep talk, but it was enough to get everyone to take the situation even more seriously.

\--

After the practice Hibiki walked with Kageyama to the locker room. “I’m sorry about what happened.” He finally said.

“It’s okay.” It wasn’t but Reiji didn’t know what else to say.

“Are you…alright?”

Reiji didn’t expect the sentiment, but he knew everyone else was listening. “Yeah.” He lied. He had no idea how he felt.

\--

When Reiji got home though, it finally solidified how he felt. He knew he wasn’t going to be okay when he got home to money left on the table and a note that just said, “I’m sorry”. 

Holding his fathers note in his hand and staring at it, his heart shattered. It was the same despair he felt when the doctors said his mother didn’t make it. His father who had just come back to his family, had left again. 

Looking at the amount of money on the table, he realized that that meant Hide was either alone in the house, or his father took him. Panic took over his body at this idea and he ran to the nursery as quickly as he could.

The baby was asleep in his crib. Reiji walked over to see his brother’s content face as he slept. He was relieved that his brother wasn’t taken. He was all he had left. He couldn’t even cry anymore.

\--

With the money he had, he was able to pay a neighbor to watch his brother. He had asked with the pretense that his father had business to do so they needed a babysitter just for the day. The sitter said he could watch him until the end of school, but that meant either Reiji had to go practice with his brother or stay home.

He decided if he missed practice it would be too suspicious. The last thing he wanted was for someone to suspect that he was alone and at least this was an easy solution for now.

Reiji was late to practice, but only by a few minutes. He had his baby brother in his arms as he walked up to the pitch, fully dressed in his team uniform. 

“I’m sorry I’m so late.” Reiji apologized to his coach. “I had to bring Hide because my father had to go do some official business to do with my mom.”

Daisuke wasn’t sure how true that was, but he wasn’t about to get angry at him. “Alright, here, hand him over.” He opened his arms out.

Reiji paused but handed the baby over. His father would be so angry if he knew, but Daisuke was still his coach.

Daisuke smiled as soon as he saw the little baby face. There’s only so long you can be stern around a baby. “He looks like Marie…” He said sadly and then shook his head when he saw Reiji look at the floor. “Okay, Kageyama get out there and run your drills.”

“Yes sir.”

Reiji did as he was told but it was clear his game was off. He was disconnected, and he wasn’t even conversing with his teammates, or even his best friend. There was too much on his mind to focus. He wasn’t doing well, but Daisuke wasn’t about to tell him that. The boy had just lost his mother. Well, at least his father was there, his coach thought.

\--

When Reiji got home to the empty house he stood in the hallway. He instinctively wanted to go make dinner for his mother, but she wasn’t there. He wanted to talk to his father, but he wasn’t there now either. The house was so still. So hauntingly still. It felt like a weight on his heart. A weight that could be lifted if he was gone. Maybe if he wasn’t around anymore…

It seemed like a lifetime, but he finally decided that he would think about maybe eating. He had no appetite, but he knew he had to eat to keep going. If for nothing else, but his baby brother. It was scary how quickly he wanted to give up on his life, but his brother needed him. He had no one else.

He only got a few steps from the hall when there was a knock at the door. Panic flooded his head again as he wasn’t sure what to do.

No. Stay calm, he told himself.

He walked back to the door and opened it, seeing the familiar foreign man again.

“Kageyama Reiji, can we talk?” Garshield asked with a strange expression. A determined one.

Kageyama’s panic got worse. His mind told him to shut the door and lock it, but he knew he had to play cool. “S-sure…”

“May I come in?” 

Reiji paused but then nodded. “My dad isn’t home—”

“I know.” Garshield looked around him now, to make sure no one could hear. “I have business with you, actually.” 

How did he know? Reiji wasn’t sure what that meant but he let him in. He closed the door behind him and led him to the dining table.

“I heard about your mother.” Garshield led as the boy sat down. “I’m terribly sorry for your loss.”

The same sentiment had been heard by Reiji over and over again. He just nodded this time. He didn’t know what else to say and the fact that this man was in his house making him anxious didn’t help.

“That must be hard. Especially now that your father isn’t in the picture anymore.”

Reiji looked at him confused. “How did you know that?”

Garshield shook his head and paused before going on. “Reiji, I have eyes everywhere.” He said simply. “Do you know who I am?”

Truthfully, Reiji didn’t. He shook his head.

“To put it bluntly, I am one of the most important people in the world.” Garshield had a problem with modesty it seemed to Reiji. “I have money in every important business venture all around the world. And my latest venture is in football.”

Reiji followed but he was confused. What did any of this have to do with him?

“You see, football is worldwide.” Garshield explained. “And I believe it can bring a lot of business in the world I work in. But enough about me, let’s talk about you.”

Reiji was so lost.

“I saw Raimon’s last game.” He continued on, “They won, but I was disappointed not to see you on the field. I have taken quite a fondness to your command of the pitch. It’s nothing short of genius.”

Reiji adjusted his brother in his arms awkwardly. “Thank you.”

“But your team isn’t at your level.” Garshield said, letting his smile fade. “Without you, they simply don’t stand a chance. Do you realize how important you are to that team? Do you realize how much you carry on your shoulders? You’re the vice president of the Football Association for the youth division, right?”

Reiji nodded.

“That’s a lot on one boy.” Garshield shook his head in pity. “And with your father out of the picture, you have to care for your baby brother all by yourself. How do you do that with school in the picture?”

Reiji wasn’t sure how this man knew so much about his life, but he held an air about him that felt like he had to tell him more. “Uhm…I got a neighbor to watch him until school ended.”

Garshield looked impressed. “Oh, good. That’s risky though, isn’t it?” He asked. “What would happen if someone got suspicious about your situation? What would happen if they found out that you didn’t have any parents here?”

In truth, Kageyama didn’t know. He shook his head. He hadn’t really thought about it before.

“I guess is if the authorities were notified, they would put you in an orphanage.” Garshield explained. “More then likely, they would separate you and your brother. He’s young enough that he would be easily adopted out. You might never see him again.”

Reiji held onto his brother, pulling him closer. “Would they do that…?”

“I think so.” 

The panic flooded his mind again. Hide was the last of his family now. The only thing keeping him going. If he lost him, what would be the point in living? He wouldn’t have anything else. He looked at the man in front of him and shook his head. “Please…please don’t tell the authorities.”

Garshield gave a bit of a chuckle. “My boy, why ever would I do that? I only want what’s best for you.” 

Those words felt empty, for some reason. 

Garshield went into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, placing a good amount of money on the table. “I have a proposition for you.” He said simply. “How would you like to never struggle again?” 

Reiji stared at the money and then stared at him expectantly. “What do you mean…?”

“I mean, Kageyama Reiji, I want to sponsor you.”

“What…?” Kageyama had no idea what that meant, and everything felt so unreal. This money on the table just sitting there—it had to be thousands. Was he giving that to him for something? 

“I want to help you keep the lifestyle you want. You want to keep your baby brother with you right? And continue playing soccer?”

Reiji nodded.

“Then I want to sponsor you so you can have that opportunity.” He slid the money across the table, closer to the boy. “This is for you, to help you think it over. I do have some conditions.”

“Conditions?” 

“Yes, conditions in return for my financial help.” He said simply. “But I mean, these conditions should be nothing compared to what’s at stake with your family.”

The truth was Reiji knew that Garshield was right. His brother was his whole world now.

“The conditions are simple. Now, I know this will sound unscrupulous at first, but you must hear me out. I need you to do what I say if you want to keep your family. Do you understand that?”

The sudden change in his tone made Reiji panic again. He knew he meant what he said. “Yes, sir.” 

“I need Raimon to lose the next match.” 

The match fixing. This is what they were talking about all those days ago. His coach had gotten so heated with him at this idea. “Why?”

“Because Teikoku is the key to getting the world to world peace.” Garshield explained. “They are run by my organization, but they would be unbeatable if they had someone like you. They are good but they are lacking the ability to see the pitch like you do. You are the light that they are lacking.”

Reiji shook his head. “I can’t just transfer…”

“No, that’s too suspicious if you transferred out of nowhere. We don’t want someone to suspect something weird going on that might jeopardize your family.” Garshield looked at him softly. “And family is the most important thing.”

Reiji had whiplash at how fast he could change expressions. He was so intense for a while and now he was talking about family. 

“I want you to help me get rid of Raimon.” Garshield stopped again. “Let’s back up. I just don’t want them to come to the regionals game. If Teikoku can win the nationals, then we’ll put Japanese soccer on the map. I think they could take on the whole country. If they had you, that is.”

Hide stirred in Kageyama’s arms. He shifted him a bit. “I don’t understand what that has to do with me.”

“Raimon is powerful now, but they’re more powerful with your command. With the way they played the last game, there is a chance they could win without you, but I need Teikoku to win. So, I’ve devised a plan.”

Reiji looked interested.

“I initially went to Endou Daisuke to help me with my plan, but he wasn’t interested. You might have heard that confrontation. You speak English, right?”

Reiji paused and then nodded.

“Well, since he wasn’t interested, I knew that Teikoku would be my only bet to help with Japan’s soccer. Like I said, they’re good, but they’d be unbeatable with you. If for some reason Raimon didn’t show up to the final and forfeit the match, then Teikoku could carry out invincible, as soon as I transfer you in, that is.”

Reiji stared at him confused. “I couldn’t get them to forfeit.” 

“No, I didn’t think so.” Garshield reached into his pocket and handed him a remote control with a single button. He stared at him expectantly. “That’s part of my plan. If you press the button on the day of the match, the bus will break down before the game. Then you make a call to the board and tell them on behalf of your team that Raimon forfeits.”

Reiji paused staring in shock. He wanted him to fix the game? Is that what was happening? This had progressed to such a foreign concept, that he couldn’t grasp. Did he have another option? Was he going to do this?

“I mean, you want to keep your family together, don’t you?” Garshield could feel the boy slipping from the idea. “Your family that was torn apart by your mother’s death that likely could have been preventable if your father hadn’t left and stressed her out so badly. If Endou Daisuke hadn’t ruined his career, then you wouldn’t be in this situation at all.”

Those words hit Reiji like a bus. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing—everything his father said before he left was just confirmed by a second party. This was Daisuke’s fault.

“Wouldn’t the revenge be sweet? To rid Daisuke’s plans of success? Just like the way he did to your father? I mean,” Garshield paused and opened his hands to him. “If you want to see your father again, perhaps that could be arranged. Think of how proud he would be to know that you did what he couldn’t.”

Reiji’s morals were spiraling out of control hearing this. Garshield was making so many good points, but he had so many reservations. “Isn’t that dangerous…couldn’t someone get hurt?”

“People get into accidents all the time and survive.” Garshield said nonchalantly. “Like I said, what’s more important? These people who helped the downfall of your family, or the family you have left and your happiness?”

Reiji stared at the money on the table as he considered the offer. “If I say yes…you won’t tell the authorities?”

Garshield gave a chuckle. “Dear boy, I already told you, I won’t tell anyone.” He said with a smile. “What’s in it for you is much more fortunate. If you help carry out my plan, you will never struggle again. That money I put on the table? Think of it as an advance—a push. That’s just a fraction of what I will give you if you promise to help me from now on. You will have so many opportunities available to you as long as you help me at Teikoku.” 

Reiji stared at the money again and then the button in front of him. If he did this, he might put the lives of others at stake, but his brother would be cared for forever. He’d be cared for forever. They’d never have to struggle again. 

“And let’s think critically here,” Garshield looked at him sympathetically. “We should do what’s good for your little brother. He should have those opportunities too, shouldn’t he?”

Reiji looked down at his brother. It was too good of an offer to resist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just as quickly as he enters, he leaves. I wanted to make Tougo as much of a deadbeat as possible, and the only way to make Daisuke not worry about Kageyama as much. So sorry for using him as a simple plot device LOL


	14. To Protect Family

With the money that Garshield had given him, it was easy for Reiji to pay a babysitter to take care of his brother. Garshield had given him the name of someone who was trustworthy with his brother and wouldn’t tell the authorities and wouldn’t ask any questions. 

However, this meant going to school was so hard. He didn’t talk to anyone. He sulked the whole time there. He couldn’t be close to anyone anymore. 

At practice, he just sat on the bench. 

“You’re not going to join them?” Daisuke asked as he looked at the boy. He knew he was still going through a lot, so the last thing he wanted to do was pressure him.

Kageyama just scowled. He didn’t even speak. He couldn’t trust Daisuke.

He didn’t speak to Hibiki either. The last thing he needed was to be any closer to him. Especially when he could potentially hurt him. The guilt ate away at him but the desire to help his brother was greater. He had to remind himself that it was for the best. Cut ties. It would be easier.

Then why was he going to practice?

\--

“Reiji!” Hibiki’s voice called from behind the boy as he began jogging towards him.

Kageyama had tried to leave the locker room quickly, leaving before anyone could talk to him. However, apparently Hibiki tried still. He didn’t turn around and he quickened his pace.

“Reiji, hey!” Hibiki caught up to him finally placing a hand on his shoulder to pull him back.

However, the sudden jerk caught the boy off-guard and he pulled back as well. For some reason, that hand on his shoulder was the snapping point. He didn’t want to be close to anyone, not emotionally and certainly not physically. Especially not to Hibiki. “Stop following me!” He shouted at him.

“What?” Hibiki looked confused.

“Stop following me!” Kageyama repeated. “I don’t want to talk to you! I don’t want to be friends with you! Leave me alone!”

There was a pause as the two looked at each other after the altercation. Hibiki was in shock, so much so that he really didn’t know what to say. Was this about that day at the riverbank?

Kageyama turned back around and began walking. He hoped that was good enough to stop him from talking to him. He couldn’t see Hibiki anymore, not after what was going to happen on the day of the regionals game. The guilt was eating at him, and he hadn’t even done anything anymore.

He felt his eyes well up with tears, but he fought them back. He couldn’t cry. He couldn’t show any emotion.

\--

However, once Reiji got home, paid the babysitter appointed by Garshield, and was able to see his brother, he had emotion again. He knew that his baby brother needed that, even as an infant. 

He was still bitter, and part of him resented his brother for being a piece of this puzzle that was his predicament he was forced in, but he smiled at his baby brother.  
Hide kept him human.

\--

Kageyama Reiji stopped going to practice but there was only one practice he missed before the Regionals game. He hoped it wouldn’t be too suspicious because he didn’t want the confrontation. The last thing he wanted was to see any of those people he was going to hurt.

He couldn’t wait to transfer schools.

\--

The day of the regionals was not an easy one. Reiji didn’t show up for school, but he kept his brother at home with a sitter as he did the deed given. Garshield had informed him that the button would be effective from a far distance, but he made sure to hide behind nearby buildings when he watched the bus drive off.

He watched the bus drive by, but he made sure to stay hidden. His heart raced as he held the button in his hand, his finger above it. He felt his hands shake as he realized the weight of what he was doing. Not only was he committing the crime of fixing the match, he was also putting his teammates lives in danger.

Garshield made a good point; not everyone who gets into an accident will die. Plus, he even said that the bus was just going to “break down”. Perhaps it wasn’t going to be as bad as he was thinking.

Then again, what if it was?

In only a few seconds that he had, he went back and forth on these ideas. He knew that the bus was well on it’s way on the freeway by now. He had no idea how many kilometers per hour that bus would be going now, but he knew that he had to press the button soon. Or else what would happen?

He would lose his brother. He would lose the last family member he had. He couldn’t live with himself knowing that he would be able to keep his brother safe and happy, like his mother would have wanted, and he didn’t take that opportunity. He knew he had to do what he was told.

There was only so much time. He had to.

He pressed the button.

There was a distant screech of brakes and a crashing sound coming from the highway.

Kageyama froze. His heart stopped a moment and his mind raced. What did he just do? Did he just commit a crime? Was this the end of it all? Did he kill his friends?

No, they weren’t his friends. He kept reminding himself that he had cut ties with all of them. They meant nothing to him now.

But if that were true, why did he feel so sick? Why did his legs shake under him? Why did he feel so guilty? Why was he thinking about Hibiki?

He rushed away from the alley and back to his house. He knew there was only so much time he had to forfeit the game on behalf of Raimon. He knew he had to do what he had too.

\--

After Reiji got home and made the call, he hung up the phone and fell to his knees. He had never felt so wrong, so disgusting. He never had done anything even remotely as terribly. He was told the bus breaking down wouldn’t be so bad, but the crash sound was so loud.

There was no way they survived that. There was no way he didn’t kill someone.

He was murderer—and if by some miracle they lived, he still attempted to murder them. This was who he was now.

He thought he had cut off his emotions, but he hadn’t. He thought before this situation he would be ready for it, but tears were falling without any restraint. He couldn’t help himself. He was disgusting, terrible, a killer.

Reiji thought about the fact that his former teammates were probably dead because of him, and he couldn’t help but feel sick. His hands shook and his vision was blurry with panic and tears. He didn’t know what else to do.

He had to calm down. The sitter would be back with his brother at any moment. He needed to regain himself. He did this for Hide. He had to do what he had to do to protect his family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait!!! I've been super busy, but I hopefully will be able to post more often!


	15. A Success

By the time Hide was back in his care, Reiji had almost become catatonic. It was his only way to process what he had done without going crazy.

However, seeing his baby brother’s face brought back his feelings. He couldn’t help but cry when he saw his content little face staring up at him. Had he saved his brother? Had he saved their family? He hoped so.

Reiji found a way to cope throughout his day. He didn’t feel better, but his brother kept him human. He really kept him human now.

He fed Hide, and put him to sleep, and just watched him sleep. He didn’t feel the need to do anything else. During his free time when he wasn’t helping his family, or playing soccer, he used to like to read. He wasn’t able to make himself do that anymore. He also liked to listen to the radio. He couldn’t do that anymore either. He just watched his brother sleep.

A few empty hours of watching his brother and stewing in his thoughts went by when he heard a knock at the door.

He went to answer it and wasn’t surprised to see Garshield. He had a smile on his face as Kageyama let him into his house and closed the door behind him quickly. Reiji didn’t smile back.

“The job was a success.” Garshield informed with a smile. “Teikoku is going to the nationals. And you’re going to be apart of it.” He reached into his briefcase and handed him a manila folder. 

“What’s this?” Kageyama asked as he opened it, curiously.

“It’s your transfer papers. They’re all filled out and ready to go. All you have to do is show up at Teikoku tomorrow. I’ll send a car to pick you up and take you home after practice, all while having someone take the best care of your little brother.”

Kageyama just nodded. 

Garshield reached back into his briefcase and pulled out another envelope. This one was full and packed to the brim. It was at least a few inches thick. He handed the envelope to Kageyama. “And here is your payment.”

Reiji opened it and saw bills and bills stacked on each other. This money could keep him going for weeks.

“If you keep working for me, you’ll be getting more letters like that.” Garshield grinned wider. 

The boy nodded, knowing there was no other option. He had to do what he was told now. This was too big of an offer not too. “Yes, sir.” He said simply.

Garshield patted his shoulder and then turned around. “I’ll take my leave then.” He began walking but stopped in his place. “Oh, and good job at picking the time when to hit that button.”

Kageyama looked at him confused.

“Because of the time you chose, there were no fatalities.”

As Garshield left, the weight lifted off Kageyama’s shoulders. He had enough money to care for his, and his brother’s lives, and he didn’t kill anyone. Those people he called his teammates were still alive. He didn’t have to bear the weight of being a murderer.

At least not yet.

\--

His first day in class at Teikoku was awkward. He didn’t make any friends, and he didn’t want too. He did notice that the students were genuinely meaner, then the students at Raimon, but he had gotten very good at ignoring people.

In no time, he figured, he would be expert at ignoring them.

And as predicted, by soccer practice, he was perfect at ignoring any taunting or callous remarks. He assumed that that was just going to be his life as a new student.

By the end of practice, he was able to prove himself with his sport. The students left him alone as long as he was going to play and help the team. They would be unbeatable.

\--

The next day everyone who was on the bus crash was back at Raimon. The club room had an air of defeat given they didn’t get to play in the regional match. They had made it, even though they practically ran in their injured state, only to hear that the match had been forfeited by someone on the team.

“It had to have been Kageyama.” Sugata, a midfielder scowled. He never really liked that kid, and it was evident now that he was never going to like him.

“Who else would have called the match off?” Nakama muttered, looking at his fellow midfielder. “He’s the only one who wasn’t there who was part of the team, that could have called the match off.”

“What do you think, Hibiki?” Aida looked at their captain for guidance. They were all going down the whole that it was Kageyama’s fault.

Hibiki didn’t want to believe it was him, but there was really no other option at the moment. It seemed like he was the most plausible one to make the call, but why would he? He did blow up at him the day before too. Was he mad at him?

“Now, now.” Daisuke cut in leaning against the wall. His broken arm in cast, and a couple of ribs bruised, he had it worse than the rest of the kids in the crash, since he used his body as a shield for a few. He was in pain, but he’d always come to practice. “You know Kageyama, he wouldn’t do this.”

The team looked at him skeptically.

“Obviously whoever called off the game, also was responsible for the crash. Kageyama Reiji wouldn’t be the reason behind that, he couldn’t possibly.” Daisuke watched their faces change. The energy of the room was mixed on Kageyama.

“But he transferred to Teikoku.” Hibiki looked up at his coach. “Why would he do that, if he wasn’t part of it?”

“I don’t know.” Daisuke admitted. “But I don’t think he’s responsible.”

Daisuke didn’t think he was responsible, but he didn’t think he was completely off the hook. His theory involved Garshield since he knew he was in ties with Teikoku, and it involved him using Kageyama. In which case, Kageyama wouldn’t be responsible. He was just a kid. This was Garshield’s doing, but the kids didn’t need to know that. It was clear the kids were still going to blame him.

Either way, he knew he had to talk to Kageyama Reiji.

\--

Reiji had gotten back from school to take care of his brother. He was an expert at it now, but it still hurt to do so. Every moment was hard remembering his parents weren’t there, Hibiki wasn’t there, no one was there. Well, Garshield was there, he supposed.

However, it was still hard. He wished he had something else. He resorted to talking to his brother.

“You know, this would be a lot easier if you could use your own hands.” He muttered as he held the bottle Hide was feeding from. “I wonder when you’re supposed to start doing that, because this is annoying right now.”

He decided to read again, finally, but when he had to feed his brother his hands were completely tied until he was done. That was bothersome.

There was a knock at his door, but he wasn’t expecting anyone. Sometimes Garshield would show up out of the blue to check on him, perhaps that was what was happening. Perhaps he needed another favor.

That idea made him anxious so holding onto his brother, he stood up and opened the door.

“Hey, Reiji.” It was Daisuke.

His broken arm made Kageyama flinch as he saw it, knowing that was his fault. All that guilt he left behind had come back. “What do you want?” He said bitterly.

“I want to talk to you. Is your father home?”

“No.”

“Good, we can talk then.” Daisuke gave a sympathetic look. “I know you were responsible for the bus crash.”

Kageyama’s heart skipped a beat and he held his brother closely. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I’m not mad, Reiji, I just want to know why. What did Garshield offer you?”

Realizing he was far too close to the truth, he shook his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He repeated his lie frantically. “I have to go, I have to feed my brother.”

Daisuke looked around at the still house, expecting Marie, and then remembering. He sighed and realized that it was far too still. Why wasn’t his father home? “Where’s Tougo?”

“I don’t know.” Kageyama muttered, still slowly trying to close the door. “It doesn’t matter, I have to go.”

“Are you here all by yourself?” Daisuke asked concerned. He held the door open with his good hand and looked at his former student. “Reiji, you can tell me, I won’t be mad, I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

“I’m fine.” Kageyama said sternly letting go of the door when he realized that wasn’t working. He repositioned his fussy brother, deciding on giving up. “I have to feed my brother.” He started walking back to the couch where he left the bottle and continued to feed him.

Daisuke walked into the entry way now, closing the door behind him. “Reiji…I need to know the truth. Is…is Tougo gone again?”

Kageyama said nothing and continued to feed his brother. The fact was he was gone for now, but if he ever came back and found out Daisuke was in their house, he’d be furious. He didn’t entertain his coach’s questions.

“Is that what Garshield offered you? Did he offer you protection? Money?” Endou shook his head trying to understand. Kageyama still ignored him. “You shouldn’t be alone here, it’s not healthy.”

Reiji rolled his eyes. “You don’t understand anything.” He muttered quietly.

“Then tell me.”

There was a silence in the room for a bit before Daisuke went on, “Reiji, if you’re here alone, taking care of your brother by yourself, that’s dangerous. Something could easily go wrong.”

I don’t have another option, Kageyama thinks, but wouldn’t say it out loud.

“Come live with me and my wife. We have more than enough room, and we also have a baby in the house. You don’t have to do this by yourself.”

Guilt, anger, and heartbreak all boiled in his chest as he tried to find the right words to say. Part of him, the desperate part of him, wanted to agree, but there was no way he could stay with him. What if his father came back? He would never forgive him. Besides this was all Endou’s fault. He would never forgive him.

“Reiji, please come live with me. I promise I—”

“Get out of my house.”

The stern manner in his voice, that was holding back the rage reminded Daisuke of Tougo. He sounded just like his father, and that fact worried him. He didn’t want this boy to end up like his drunk of a father and he didn’t want Hideaki to be in a bad place because of it.

“Reiji, just…think about it.”

“Get out.”

Daisuke sighed and did as he was told, but before he closed the door, he said, “You can always come to me for anything.” And then left.

Those last words he gave to him infuriated him. His emotions were still stunted but he felt his eyes well with tears of frustration. He wanted to cry and scream, but he couldn’t. Instead he tended back to his baby brother who looked at him so calmly.

He was doing everything he could for their family. That was what was important.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Angsty shit for a while, sorry fam.


	16. Very Good at Lying

Not but a few hours later, there was another knock on the door. This time it was Garshield. Reiji let him into the house as usual.

“I saw Endou Daisuke come into this house.” It was the first thing he said, and it was stern, almost scary.

Reiji paused and then nodded.

“What did he say?” Garshield narrowed his eyes, dark and sinister.

“Uhm…” Kageyama was so nervous in the wake of this large, intimidating man. “He wanted to know if I was responsible for the bus crash.”

Garshield gave an unentertained hum. “You didn’t tell him anything did you?”

“No, sir.”

“Good.” Garshield let his posture relax a bit. “You know that if he knows anything, if anyone knows about our agreement, we won’t be able to work together anymore. And that would be conducive to a healthy and happy family, would it?”

“No, sir.”

Garshield smiled now. “So, what did you tell him?”

“Nothing.” Kageyama knew that he was indebted to the man in front of him. He didn’t say anything, so he wasn’t lying. Even though it wasn’t quite the truth. “I think Coach—or—Endou surmised it himself, but I didn’t say anything. I just told him to leave.”

Garshield kept his smile and nodded. “Good.” He paused again, thinking about their situation. “Well, don’t worry too much, we will deal with Endou-san.” He promised and looked at the infant in the boy’s arms. “You’re being such a good big brother. Hide looks very happy.”

Kageyama looked down at his baby brother and shrugged. “Thanks.” He said quietly.

“I’m sure your mother would be proud.”

Reiji just nodded.

“Well, I’ll let you know when I need another favor from you. For now,” Garshield shifted a bit and took out his wallet. “How are you on that money I gave you? Do you need any more?”

Reiji looked confused a moment before he realized he was just offering him money. No one had ever done that before, not even his parents. “Oh, no.” He shook his head. “I still have a lot, thank you.” What would he have spent it on in just a few days? The bills were the only thing he could think of, but even so after he paid them, he would have a very comfortable amount left over.

Garshield just nodded with a smile. “Then I’ll take my leave.” He said simply. “Oh, one more question; How’s Teikoku?”

Kageyama shrugged. “It’s fine.” He said simply. “It’s different but it’s not bad.”

Garshield grinned wider. “Good.” He chuckled as he reached for the front door. “I’ll see you sometime later, then.”

“Yes, sir.”

\--

As competitive soccer came to a close for Raimon Junior High, the soccer club was starting to break down. Missing the regionals game was devastating, but the practices kept going on. However, the usual camaraderie and light-heartedness was long gone within a few practices.

“Team, pick up the pace!” Coach Endou yelled from the side of the field. “Come on, let’s go!”

The soccer club didn’t have the motivation to listen to their coach’s commands. At least they didn’t take them to heart.

Hibiki stood in the goal thinking about his former best friend. He wanted to believe that Kageyama couldn’t be capable of doing something so insidious, but the more he thought about the series of events, the more likely it seemed like he was the culprit.

Staring at the floor in thought, thinking about how he snapped at him before the accident, Hibiki took a soccer ball to the face that he didn’t see coming.

“Hibiki!” Daisuke yelled to him, as the goalkeeper fell to the floor, clutching the side of his face.

“I’m so sorry Captain!” Biruda called, running over to him. The very athletic forward had a strong kick, unfortunately for Hibiki.

“What the hell…” Hibiki finally muttered holding his face and looking up at his coach and the forward. “That hurt.”

“You’re not on your game today, Hibiki.” Daisuke said as he reached out his only good hand to help him up. “Are you alright? Do you need to go to the nurse?”

Hibiki took his hand and shook his head, rubbing the side of his face. “I’m fine.” He muttered. “Sorry about that…I’m uh…just thinking too much.”

“What are you thinking about that’s got you so out of it, Captain?” Biruda asked and placed a hand on his shoulder. The least he could do was lend an ear after injuring him.

Hibiki shrugged. “I dunno. Don’t worry about it.”

Daisuke gave a suspicious look to his captain. He assumed he was still thinking about the regionals, and more importantly, he was thinking about Kageyama. “Sit out this practice for now.” He ordered.

Hibiki decided not to fight it. He was too lost in his thoughts anyways.

“Man, this club is dying…” Tamiyama muttered to Sugata as his captain walked off the field. “I might go back to the music club.”

Sugata nodded.

Hibiki heard his teammates, but he couldn’t let that get him down now. Their club was breaking down, and it was Kageyama’s fault. Well, was it Kageyama’s fault? It couldn’t have been, but who else would it be? It had to be his fault. He was the only one who didn’t show up to the game, and the only one who could have called.

He hated this truth he had come to, and he clenched his fists in rage. He was so mad that the friend he trusted betrayed him. They had told each other secrets and intimate things that they hadn’t ever told anyone else. Kageyama even kissed him, and he told no one. They played soccer together. Why would he deceive him?

“Seigou.” Daisuke muttered quietly, as his captain sat on the bench. “You alright?”

Hibiki paused and unclenched his fists. “Yeah.” He lied. “I just need to rest a bit.”

Daisuke nodded. “Alright. Don’t let it get to you. Everything will be okay.” He let his words be vague, so it could apply to anything, but he still figured he was thinking about Kageyama. Daisuke didn’t want to tell him he talked to him, considering their former forwards fragile position he was in, but at the same time, he wished he could tell Hibiki that Reiji wasn’t the one behind the crash. He knew he wouldn’t be able to, at least not now.

Hibiki just nodded. He decided he needed to get answers. If no one else was going to, he knew he’d have to be the one to do so.

\--

After soccer club, Reiji had been trying to soothe the crying brother in his arms. When food didn’t work, rocking didn’t work, and ignoring him didn’t work, he decided to sing. He remembered the lullaby his mother would sing every now and then that he tried to forget. It made him sad to remember it, but it strangely seemed to work to calm Hideaki.

Just as the he got the baby to stop screaming, and only uncomfortably stir, there was a knock on the door. He assumed it would be Garshield again, and he hoped he didn’t have another favor to ask of him. He hoped it wasn’t Daisuke. He wanted nothing more than a simple wellness check from the man who was his new employer.

However, he forgot to hope for the one person it hurt to see. Hibiki Seigou was at the door, looking just as angry as the time he accused him of abandoning the soccer club.

Reiji continued to bounce his brother in his arms as he saw his former best friend and crush. He let his expression darken. “I thought I told you that I didn’t want to see you again.”

“Why did you do it?” Hibiki asked him, shaking his head incredulously. “Why did you destroy our chance at winning and then transfer to Teikoku?!”

Kageyama knew that being backed into a proverbial corner meant he needed to find a way out. He had to lie. Garshield said no one could know about how he helped with the crash because otherwise he would have to give up the work. He needed Garshield now. “What are you talking about?” He could play dumb for a while.

“The bus crash!” Hibiki clarified. “Did you do it? Were you the one who forfeited the match for us!?”

If there was one thing that Kageyama was grateful for, it was that he had gotten very good at lying, and in turn, pretty good at acting. “What? No.” He answered with an incredulous look back. “I didn’t have anything to do with any of that.”

“Then why weren’t you on the bus?” Hibiki asked. “And why weren’t you at practice?”

Reiji paused a moment and then looked around outside. “Come in and I’ll tell you.” He muttered quietly. He wanted to continue to lie about everything, but he knew that telling a partial truth on this matter would be better. He also knew that this was going to hurt.

Hibiki gave a suspicious look but walked into the house anyway. He waited until his former teammate closed the door before crossing his arms at him. “Okay, I’m in here, now tell me.”

“I didn’t go to the practice or the game because I had to take care of my brother.” He finally answered. This part of his plan was going to be very uncomfortable. “I couldn’t go because the babysitter wouldn’t be able to take care of Hide any longer.”

“Babysitter?” Hibiki’s initial anger had worn off in place of confusion. “What do you mean babysitter? Where’s your dad?”

This was going to hurt. Reiji mentally prepared himself to tell the truth about that one. He gave a sigh before answering. “He’s gone.”

Hibiki is still confused. “Gone? What do you mean gone? Where’s he gone?”

“I don’t know.” Reiji said letting his shoulders drop in defeat. “I don’t know. He left me and Hide a few days before I got angry at you.”

“He left you?” The idea of a father abandoning his family was so foreign to Hibiki that he couldn’t actually process it. He just stared puzzled. “You’ve been here all alone?”

Reiji’s chest ached as he nodded and remembered the feeling of seeing his father’s note all over again. The memory of him losing his mother and then his father right after was painful and telling the boy he loved, who he betrayed, these facts were just salt in an open wound. “He left some money and a letter on the table and I haven’t seen him since. So, the day of the game, I couldn’t go because I had to go home and take care of my brother.”

Hibiki realized the weight of that situation and he let his arms drop from in front of him. He couldn’t imagine going through the hardships that his former best friend had gone through. He was at a loss for words for a while before he realized he still had more questions. “Did you forfeit the match?” He finally asked.

Kageyama shook his head. “No.” He lied.

Hibiki stared at him a moment before he went on. “Then why did you transfer to Teikoku?” His voice got softer as he asked. The more he talked to him, the more his idea that Kageyama was at fault was shifting the other direction.

Reiji, however, needed a way out of this. He paused as he thought about how to say this. “Well,” He started quietly and looked down at his brother. “Honestly, a-a man I know said he would sponsor me if I switched schools. He works for Teikoku and wants them to succeed.” His voice stuttered as he was ashamed to tell him a half-truth. His eyes began to well up, partially at the thought of his own situation, and partially at the thought that he couldn’t tell the whole truth. It was hard to keep all these secrets, and it hurt badly. “He said I wouldn’t have to worry about money or anything if I went to Teikoku instead. Since, I don’t have a job, and I need to pay for my brother, I couldn’t turn the offer down…”

The goalkeeper stared at him for a while as he tried to comprehend all the information he was given. Gladly, he felt himself believing that his former best friend was innocent, and it felt like such a relief. Everything he was saying made sense and it quelled his previous doubt. “Oh…” He muttered quietly, studying the exhausted misery on the other’s face. “So, you’re really not a part of the reason we didn’t make it to regionals, huh?”

“I don’t know anything about that.” He lied with a bit of a shrug. “I didn’t even hear about the forfeit until days after I transferred.”

“Oh.” Hibiki looked so relieved for a moment and then sympathetic at the next. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Reiji lied again. He wasn’t okay. “I’ve got money and resources now.”

It was silent for a few moments before Hibiki decided to speak up again.

“Why didn’t you just tell me the truth? I mean, about your dad and stuff.”

Because I couldn’t tell you, Reiji thought to himself. “I didn’t want to lose my brother.” He muttered. He blinked away the tears in his eyes, because the last thing he wanted to do was cry. “If I told anyone, there would be a chance that the authorities could find out and then they’d put us in an orphanage and adopt my brother out…I didn’t want to lose what was left of my family.”

Hibiki could tell he was close to crying. It hurt to see his former best friend so broken. “But why didn’t you just tell me?” He reiterated. “You should know you can always trust me. I’ve always kept all your secrets, and I know you’ve kept mine. You should have just told me.”

Those words hurt Reiji so bad. He forgot how much he loved Hibiki, and how much he cared about him. His feeling still hadn’t died down and this moment only made them worse. He hated all of this, but it felt nice to have someone care about him. At least, someone who wasn’t Garshield, who needed him, or Daisuke, who ruined his life.

“Reiji…” Hibiki placed a hand on his shoulder, taking a step closer to him. “I’m sorry I suspected the worst of you.”

Kageyama looked up from his brother when he felt the touch on his shoulder, only to get lost in the other’s eyes. He hated the weird feelings he still had. He hated that he had to lie to his crush. He hated that he could see the pity in his gaze. He hated how physically close they were.

“It’s okay.” He finally let out in a whisper. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

“It’s fine.” Hibiki muttered back to him. After a second he gave a bit of a smile. “I guess this means we’ll be playing each other next year in the Football Frontier.”

Kageyama smiled back. “Yeah.” He nodded to him. “I guess so.”

“We won’t forfeit next year.” Hibiki gave a bit of a chuckle. Even though it was evident their club was falling apart, he still had hope for the coming year. Soccer was what was most important to him. Soccer and his friends.

“I won’t go easy on you.” Kageyama smiled wider.

Another chuckle came from Hibiki as they remained close. He looked down at the infant in the other’s arms and smiled more. “Did he get bigger? He looks bigger.”

Kageyama looked down as well and shrugged. “Probably. Here, you can hold him.” He gestured for him to take him. He really wanted to put him down. He was heavy after a while.

Hibiki was reluctant at first but for the second time, he gave in. He held the baby in his arms and bounced him slightly. “God, I forgot how heavy he was!”

“Yeah, he’s a workout.” Reiji said as he stretched his newly free arms out. He was glad the air in the room was lighter because of the baby. He was also glad that he was able to take a step back from Hibiki. They were too close before…

“I think he might have gotten bigger though. Do babies get bigger that fast?”

Reiji shrugged. “I read my mom’s old book on babies, but it didn’t say anything about the size really.”

Hibiki just nodded. “Well, he definitely got bigger.” He said confidently. He looked down at the baby felt himself go soft. “Did you hear that Hide? You’re big! Just like Big brother Seigou.”

Referring to himself in third person made Kageyama giggle, but the fact that he called himself “big brother Seigou” made him melt. He was so cute around his brother. Who would have thought that that would be an attractive feature to him? He hated this as much as he loved it.

“It’s supposed to be his bedtime.” Reiji finally said. “He was too fussy to sleep before you got here.”

“Well, he looks comfy now.” Hibiki observed. “Time to go to sleep, little baby, and give your big brother and his friend some time to hang out.”

Friend. He called himself his friend. Perhaps they could be friends again. As he watched the two in front of him, he had completely forgotten the situation he was in. He forgot that Garshield had him employed for whatever favor he needed and that he was going to be a criminal. He forgot that he wanted to cut ties with Raimon after what he did. He forgot he even felt guilty about fixing the match and putting his friends in danger.

“I mean, if you want to hang out with me.” Hibiki’s gaze went back up to his former best friend. “I know you’re busy with him, but I can help out.”

Reiji stared at him again, his face still flushed from anxiety, embarrassment, and happiness. His lie worked, and he has his best friend back. “Yeah, I-I guess if you want.”

Hibiki smiled at him and looked down at his brother. “Hey, when he goes to sleep, I can make you dinner! I found this new ramen recipe I learned how to make. I’m getting pretty good at cooking.” He always liked to make food for him and his friends.

Reiji smiled back at him and how excited he was about his own skills. “Sure, if you want.”

Eventually they realized that the baby wasn’t tired yet, so they decided to talk and catch up until then. They only stopped being friends for a bit, but there was a lot that had happened in that time span. Hibiki told about the team, and what was going on with each individual person and the state of the team itself. At some point the baby switched back to being in Reiji’s arms and Hibiki went to go make them dinner.

“Won’t your parents worry about where you are?” Reiji finally said as the other got all the ingredients out on the counter.

“No, they know I’m with you.” Hibiki replied, starting to boil the water. “They think we’ve been friends this whole time. I didn’t tell them about when you stopped talking to me, because I hoped that it would get better. Looks like I was right.” He gave a cocky grin.

Reiji laughed back sitting at the dining table now with his brother. “I guess so.” He still had forgotten about all the hardships he had been through recently when his best friend was around. He loved this feeling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is so long!!!


	17. You Love Him, Don't you?

Eventually the baby fell asleep and they could have dinner in peace and continue to talk about everything and anything. Just like the old times before Reiji lost his parents.

But just like the old times, that meant that Hibiki had to go back to his house at the end of the day. His parents weren’t a fan of them having sleepovers on school nights.

Standing in the hallway, Hibiki got his shoes on, opened the door, and turned back to his best friend. His face got a little somber before he spoke. “I’m really sorry for accusing you for the bus crash thing.” He apologized yet again. “And I’m sorry for what happened to your parents. That wasn’t very nice of your father to leave you like that.”

Reiji shrugged looking at the floor now. Suddenly all the hard feelings had come back to him in one moment. Knowing that his best friend was leaving him to be alone on top of all that hurt him as well. He wanted him to stay so badly.

“If you ever need to talk about anything—”

Without thinking, Reiji leaped himself over the hall and hugged his best friend. He held him in a tight embrace, doing everything he could not to want to kiss him again.

It caught Hibiki off guard, but he eventually got the picture and realized he needed the hug. He held his arms around his middle, holding him close to him now in the frame of the open door.

“Thank you.” Reiji whispered holding onto him. “Thank you for not leaving me too.”

Hibiki rubbed his back with one hand as he held onto him. “Of course.” He said back. “You’re my best friend. I’d never leave you.”

It took a few seconds but eventually Reiji pulled away from him. He kept his arms rested on the other’s shoulders as he looked at Hibiki’s sympathetic expression. Hibiki let his hands fall from the others back to his sides, in case he wanted to go in for another hug.

“Thank you.” Reiji said again. “You and my brother are really all I have left…so…please don’t tell anyone.”

Hibiki nodded at him. “I promise.” He gave a smile now, to try and lighten the mood. “I’ll come by tomorrow after practice. I can make you a dinner again, y’know, help out a bit. What are friends for, right?”

Reiji gave a bit of a chuckle, realizing he was being serious and nodded at him. “Sure.” He muttered and pulled his arms back from him, giving him the okay to let him go. He did. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“See you tomorrow.” Hibiki mirrored as he left the front porch.

Reiji leaned against the doorframe as he longingly watched his best friend leave. He wanted to ask him to stay forever, but clearly that wouldn’t happen.

It took until Hibiki left the block and out of sight, for the sound of a car door to open. On the side of the street, Garshield left the car, as if he was waiting there. Reiji caught eyes with him and looked around to see if the neighbors had noticed. It didn’t seem like it.

He let him into his house and closed the door behind them. Before he could speak, Garshield beat him to it.

“I waited at your block for a good couple of hours.” He said this, but had a smile on his face as he did so.

Was he mad? Reiji couldn’t tell. “Oh, I’m sorry…”

“No.” Garshield shook his head. “No, no, I was the one who showed up with no warning. This was all on me. Plus, I wasn’t going to interrupt your little date.”

Reiji’s face turned bright red. “M-my what?!” His voice cracked as he realized the implications of the man’s words.

Garshield chuckled a bit. “It’s alright.” He said softly. “What did you two do in here for all those hours?”

Reiji was still bright red as he tried to piece together what to say. Did he know? Did he know about his feelings for Hibiki? “We, uh, we just had dinner, and talked about stuff.”

“Stuff? Not our stuff, I hope.”

“No, sir.” Reiji looked at the floor. He knew he looked guilty, but he wasn’t sure how else to process what was going on.

Garshield paused a bit with a stern expression, only to let it go and chuckle at him promptly afterwards. “I’m sure you didn’t. You’re a very trustworthy young man.”  
Reiji kept his eyes on the floor. “Thank you, sir.”

“You love him, don’t you?”

Kageyama’s gaze snapped back up at the adult in his house, realizing that he was caught. Oh no. He knew. What else did he know? Was he going to shame him for this? How did he find out? What could he even say? “W-wh—no!” His face was flushed in embarrassment and anxiety, he had no idea how to react.

Garshield chuckled again. “Dear boy, it’s quite alright.” He said and placed a hand on his shoulder. “You know, there’s nothing wrong with that.”  
The boy continued to look at him, flustered and confused.

“How long have you two been dating?” Garshield asked.

Kageyama shook his head. “W-we aren’t.” He finally muttered. “We haven’t been.” Why would he ask questions like that? His demeanor was so peculiar to him.

Garshield paused and then nodded. “Oh, well, I just assumed with the way you two looked at each other and the way you held each other. You look like a set of love-birds.” He laughed a bit. “Forgive me for thinking the wrong thing.”

Reiji just kept his mouth shut. He was speaking so frankly, and so forward about the subject. What did it all mean?

“If that is the wrong thing, that is. I can tell you love him though.” The man grinned at the boy, taking his hand back finally. “You definitely have feelings for him, don’t you?”  
Reiji said nothing.

“You know, there’s nothing wrong with it.” He repeated himself from before. “I understand your hesitation, but it’s completely normal. Boys your age start to go through changes and start to get new feelings. Some boys start to fall in love, and some fall in love with other boys. Its more common than you think.”

Reiji just looked at him confused. “It is?” He asked quietly almost in a whisper.

Garshield grinned. It wasn’t quite a dark grin, but it wasn’t quite a caring grin. It was definitely not right on Reiji’s end. “It is.” He mirrored back. “People don’t talk about it a lot, but it’s normal. It’s becoming more normalized too. I work with a few people who have the same…inclinations. It’s not a problem.”

The boy stared at him as if he was trying to read his expression. What was this man’s angle? Why was he telling him this?

“As you know, I help many people, like yourself.” Garshield carried on. “Some of those people are more like you then you think. You shouldn’t worry so much.”

Reiji seemed to hold his breath. At any instance he could say the wrong thing, he was sure of it. There’s no way what this man was saying was true. His father called him strange for holding hands with his best friend. There’s no way it could have been normal.

“Well, if it’s any consolation,” Garshield continued softly. “I’d wager he has feelings for you too.”

Reiji’s heart skipped a beat. The idea his best friend felt the same way pumped nervous adrenaline all throughout his body. He felt so anxious at the idea, and he wasn’t sure if he should talk about it. In any case, he knew it wasn’t true. He figured Hibiki would have said something after they kissed.

Garshield studied the boy’s expression and gave a soft sigh. “You don’t think so?” He asked as if reading his mind. “Why not?”

Kageyama said nothing and fidgeted nervously.

“Dear boy, I can tell it’s bothering you.” Garshield placed a hand on his back. “You should talk about the problems you have. Bottling them up will do you no good. And you know, I’m always here to listen.”

There was a long pause before Reiji finally looked up at him to speak. “You won’t tell anyone?”

Garshield chuckled. “Of course not. Why would I want to jeopardize my hard-working player and new assistant, mm? I want you to feel comfortable with me. You can tell me anything.” He patted his back lovingly, like a father would. At least, like Kageyama Tougo had before he started spiraling downwards. “Why don’t you think he likes you back?”

Reiji was bright red, but it was true. The idea of keeping such a secret was eating away at him. He couldn’t even tell his best friend. “Because I…” He paused as he mentally went back and forth for a second on whether or not to tell the truth. “Uhm…”

Garshield looked at him. “Do you want to sit down? Let’s sit at the table.” He walked the boy to the Kageyama family dining table and pulled out a chair for him. He sat next to him now, looking at him thoughtfully. “You can tell me anything.”

Reiji rested his arm on the table in front of him and looked at it instead of the man next to him. It was too embarrassing. “Um…I kissed him.” He finally muttered quietly. He felt so ashamed to say it out loud.

“Oh, did you?” Garshield looked impressed and interested, the same way a supportive father would talk to a teenage son about his first date with a girl. “Why does that mean he isn’t interested?”

Kageyama kept his gaze down. “Well, he didn’t kiss me back. It was kind of…an accident.”

“How do you mean?”

“Uhm…” Kageyama looked at the man in front of him finally and saw his softer expression. The look on his face felt more gentle. Maybe it would be okay to tell him after all, he thought. “Well, we were hanging out by the riverbank, and I just sort of…kissed him without thinking, but he didn’t kiss me back and he looked confused so I left before he could…” He let his voice trail off.

“Before he could leave you?” Garshield asked to help finish his sentence.

Kageyama just nodded and looked back down.

“Well,” The adult thought a moment, letting his posture relax as he did. “So, you kissed him, and he still wants to be friends with you even after the kiss. Have you talked about it with him?”

Kageyama shook his head, no.

“I see. Well, perhaps you should think about it this way then.” Garshield began. “If you kiss someone, and they didn’t hate you for it, or say anything bad about it, who's to say maybe they didn’t like it too?”

Reiji looked back up at the adult in front of him now, reading his expression. He was being serious. But that statement was far too good to be true, there was no way Hibiki felt the same way about him. This man was trying his best, but he had no clue. Though it would be a lie if he said it made absolutely no sense…

“Well, in any case. I think you two would make a fine couple.” The man smiled. “But I understand if you’re not ready for that yet. That’s a lot of heavy stuff for a boy whose only fourteen. You don’t need to be concerned with dating right now anyways.”

Reiji looked down, blushing. He was right, he shouldn’t get hung up on the idea that he could date. He would have time for that later when he was grown up. Right now, he had responsibilities. It was disappointing but somehow relieving. He didn’t have to think about that now. Maybe not ever.

“Well, anyways, I came to ask a favor of you.” Garshield’s tone changed and his posture stood straight again. He went right back into being a business man, a boss, rather then a father figure of sorts. “It’s nothing difficult, I just need you to deliver a package for me.”

Reiji looked at him confused. “Huh?”

Garshield reached into his brief case and pulled out a large sealed envelope. He handed it to the boy in front of him, rather then setting it on the table. “It’s for a client of mine whose…well, let’s just say he’s more of an unsavory character. It’s not a big deal, but he can’t have the post on him. He changes where he is every other day.”

The boy took the package and was immediately thrown off by how heavy this little envelope could be. “What’s inside it?”

“Don’t worry about that.” Garshield said sternly. “All you need to worry about is getting this to its destination. You’ll have to go into town, but it’s down a few alleys that you probably haven’t ever been down, at least I should hope not. No one would suspect a teenage boy would go down to such a place. This paper has the address on it, and when you’re done with it, I want you to get rid of the address so no one could ever see it, okay?”

Kageyama stared at the paper he was given and nodded. “Yes, sir.” This was strange. This seemed tamer than the bus task, but it was much more mysterious. He was hung up on what could have been in the package.

“Alright, I want you to go straight after practice, and personally hand this to this man’s name on the paper. Only him. Understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

“You think you can do this?”

“Yes—oh—but I forgot. I’m supposed to meet Seigou here tomorrow after practice.” Reiji paused as he realized what he was saying.

Garshield shook his head. “You know this work comes first, before your friends, even before your crush.” He said sternly. “When you agreed to help me, you agreed to this. Right? Seigou cannot know about this. No one can.”

Kageyama realized he was in the wrong and nodded. He was indebted to the man in front of him. He had to do what he asked. He would have to come up with some sort of lie for Hibiki. “Yes, sir. I’m sorry.”

Garshield paused again but softened his expression a bit. “It’s alright. I know this task will go perfectly. Your meticulous nature will be perfect for it. And don’t open up the package. Just deliver it.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good.” Garshield placed a hand on Reiji’s shoulder and smiled at him now. A gentle smile. He felt more like he was acting like a father figure again. “I’m very proud of you.”

“Thank you.” Kageyama said quietly.

The man squeezed his shoulder for a second then let go. “I’ll see myself out then. Unless you need anything else?”

“No, sir.”

“Swell. I’ll give you your money after your soiree tomorrow.” Garshield smiled at him as he stood up. He walked to the hall but then turned around to look at the boy. “Reiji?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Perhaps it would do you some good to talk about the kiss with that boy.” With a pause he turned around. “Break a leg, kid.”

Back to his face heating up with embarrassment, all he could do was nod. Was that an order? He hoped not. As he watched Garshield leave he stared at his package with confusion, but he was still thinking about Hibiki.

Was there a chance he could have liked him back?

No, he couldn’t think about that now. He had to focus on school, focus on the soccer association, and focus on his brother.

He decided he would check up on Hide instead of worrying.

His brother was fast asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UGH Sorry this chapter is mostly about romance, I promise the whole story won't be like this and it is VERY relevant to what happens in the future chapters. I promise!!!!!!!


	18. React on Instinct

The next day was a nerve-wracking one. Reiji got through practice even though all he could think about was having to deliver the package. He was so worried he would get lost or give it to the wrong person, or in some way it would go wrong.

He felt like he did with the bus crash all over again.

Why? That was stupid, he thought to himself. He knew that there was no reason to be as anxious as he was, considering this wasn’t life-threatening--he hoped--and for all he knew, this could be harmless. He hoped it was just some sort of test.

After practice, he was quick to go into town. He held the package in his school messenger bag and held the paper with the address to close to him. He knew about where he was going, but it took longer than he expected. 

When he turned down into the back alley, he was met with a grungy looking place. The buildings were worn down and broken, and there were windows that were boarded up all over. This definitely didn’t look like a place that anyone would live in. 

Eventually he found the door he was to knock on and he did so gingerly. The windows were covered by closed shades and the door had the paint chipping away on it. It was kind of surreal to be in an environment like this, let alone at a doorstep of it.

“Who’s there?” The voice from behind the door sounded stern and gruff. It was intimidating to say the least.

“Ah...Kagey--” He stopped when he realized he probably shouldn’t say his name. “I’m here on behalf of Garshield.” He changed instead. 

There was a pause before the door opened to reveal an older man, in his late forties, at least, and in a nicely pressed suit. He had a large scar on his head that went into his hairline that kept the mark hairless. He grimaced at the boy in front of him. “Get in here.” He said sternly and grabbed Kageyama by his suit.

Kageyama was pulled in and didn’t even have a chance to respond. Before he could say anything, the door was shut behind him and he was in the decrepit room of what was clearly once a living room. There was one sofa and it was torn up and lopsided, as if it was on its last limb of life as a piece of furniture. It was also tainted with dark stains. He hoped it was wine.

“Garshield sent you?” The man asked again, looking the frightened teenager up and down. “Where’s my stuff then?”

Kageyama looked down. “In my bag--”

Before he could say anymore, the man grabbed the boy’s messenger back and opened it up. He pulled out the package and seemed to tear off the envelope in one piece revealing a large hand gun. He kept his sneer as he looked at the weapon.

Reiji stared in disbelief at what he had been carrying. He had no idea that this whole time he had a weapon on him, let alone a firearm. What would have happened if someone found it? Well, he couldn’t think of that now, because he was too busy in a secluded house with a sketchy man.

“So this is what I get huh?” The man opened up the gun and nodded. “Pre-loaded huh?” He narrowed his eyes and looked at the teenager again. “What’s your name kid?”

Kageyama shook his head. “I’m not supposed to say.” He wasn’t sure if that was true, but he didn’t want his name on this man’s lips. Why else would he need a gun but to kill with it. “I’m just supposed to give you this and go.”

The man glared at him. “Cheeky.” He muttered quietly. “Do you know why a gun supplier pre-loads a gun for you?” He asked him.

Kageyama shook his head.

The man cocked the gun as he held it. “To trick you into thinking there’s real bullets in it.” He explained and pointed the gun at the boy in front of him. “Men like Garshield always try to screw you. And I’m sure that’s what he’s doing with me. If this gun is a dud, well, I guess it won’t be a problem for you either way.” 

Reiji froze in place, unsure of what to do. He had never been in a situation like this, but he knew he had to think of a plan. If the man was going to shoot him, he had less then a second to get out of the way. The door was at least two feet from him, and from there on the alley way was a few yards long. Could he run without being caught?

As he calculated the route to take, the man in front of him turned around and aimed the gun at the sofa. He pulled the trigger, and with the loudest bang Kageyama had ever heard, he watched feathers go flying in the place where the bullet hit.

Those feathers could have been his blood. 

However, thankful he didn’t run, he looked back at the unhinged man in front of him. “I...hope that suffices.” He finally said as mature and calm as possible.

The man gave a nod and held his hand out to the boy in front of him. “Well, cheeky-brat, it was good to do business with you and your boss.”

Kageyama almost didn’t take his hand, but he decided he should and he should just go. He shook it quickly and then gave a bow as he left as quickly as possible.

As he ran out of the alley and into town where the streets bustled, he couldn’t help but think about how the sofa took that bullet. That could have been him. He could have been dead, leaving his brother alone with no one to take care of him. He couldn’t do that. He should have reacted faster.

From then on, Reiji thought he needed to react on instinct. He couldn’t risk leaving his brother. He couldn’t find himself in any more situations like that. 

Why would Garshield put him in a situation like that if he knew he would be in danger? He had been so caring to him. Why would he do that?

No he couldn’t think of that now. He had to get him to Hide.

\--

As he made his way back to his house, he saw Hibiki sitting on the sidewalk in front. He hadn’t forgotten that he would be showing up that night, but he was too out of it to care he was late. 

“Hey, what took you so long?” Hibiki laughed as he stood up, holding a bag in his hand. “I got stuff to make you dinner--hey what’s wrong?”

Without realizing it, the boy had had a worried expression. He felt the muscles in his face forcibly relax as he realized he was still anxious. “Oh, nothing. Just ran late with soccer club.” He said simply as he started walking up to the house and unlocking the door.

As he did so, the babysitter walked into the hall. “Hideaki is sleeping.” She said with a smile. She was an older woman, but she was a little different. She had darker skin and looked as if she wasn’t from Japan, but her Japanese was very good. Kageyama knew she worked with Garshield and that was why she was to be trusted. “I just gave him a bottle so you have a bit.”

“Thank you.” Kageyama said to her. She was a woman of little words, but she seemed sincere. They said simple goodbyes as she left.

“I thought no one was home…” Hibiki muttered. “I knocked on the door and there was no answer…”

“Oh, she’s not supposed to answer.” Kageyama explained as they walked into the dining area now. “The man who is sponsoring me hired her and she has to keep quiet to keep us safe.” 

Hibiki didn’t understand it, but he nodded anyways. “Alright.” He shrugged, taking his words as fact. He knew that he would never understand his friend’s life but it was what it was. “Well, I learned how to make a new yakisoba recipe, and it’s really good! I’ll get started for us!”

Kageyama was so grateful to have a friend like Hibiki in his life. He was so grateful that he didn’t ask too many questions and took things at face value. He was an idiot--but he was refreshing to have around. Especially after he was almost the victim of a murder.

“Sounds good, I’m going to check on Hide.” He let his friend wander into his kitchen and get ready as he walked into the nursery. It as true, Hide was fast asleep. What a nice change.

\--

Dinner was just as good as the night before. It was kind of strange how good of a chef Hibiki was, but Kageyama would say that. He just gave him thanks and continued to talk as normal. 

And as normal, they talked about everything. School, soccer, family, (well mostly Hibiki’s family). Again, it was as if nothing was wrong. Reiji liked that.

By the end of the night, Hibiki finally had needed to go home, and they didn’t talk about the kiss. They didn’t hug either. But Hibiki promised he would be back again the next day and maybe he could sleepover as it wasn’t a school night.

After he left, his brother woke up crying and Kageyama knew he wouldn’t be going to bed anytime soon.

“Hide…” Kageyama muttered as he walked to the nursery. He sighed seeing his infant brother wriggling around in his crib. He went to pick him up and shook his head. “What am I going to do with you?”

The baby whined in his arms.

“You don’t have to cry, you know.” Reiji had reverted back to having one-sided conversations. “I know you’re awake, and hungry, that’s just how it goes with you.” He went to go make the formula as he rested the baby on his hip with one arm. “Big brother will always be here for you.”

Realizing how surreal that statement was when he was almost killed today, he felt a pang of guilt in his stomach. Next time, he just had to run. He couldn’t think about doing anything as risky. Hide needed him.

After stewing in that guilt for a bit, he realized his brother was still crying. He decided to use his moms technique of singing to him. That same Italian lullaby would suffice, and it did. Within seconds Hide calmed down. How lucky.

When he was able to calm the baby down enough to put him in his crib the doorbell rang. He figured he knew who it was.

He answered the door, and immediately stepped to the side to let Garshield in. It was customary by now to just do that.

“How was your job?” Garshield asked as the door closed behind him. “That man is kind of a loose cannon but he’s an important customer.”

Reiji paused as he remembered the fear he felt when he was held at gunpoint by that man. How could he tell that to Garshield in good standing? He needed to be mature. He needed to prove that he was adult enough to handle things like this. “Ah...it was interesting.”

Garshield looked at him skeptically a moment and took an envelope out of his bag. “This is your pay. The more risky a procedure, the more I’ll pay you, of course.” He handed it to him with a bit of a smile now. “I heard from that client and he said you handled it excellently.”

Reiji paused as he realized that meant it was a test. Does that mean the man wouldn’t have shot him? Does that mean it was all fake? He didn’t like the deception but at least he seemed to prove himself. “Thank you, sir.” He muttered to him.

“I’m proud of you. You are going to be a great asset to my business.” He placed a hand on his shoulder, giving him a prideful look, like a father would their son.

Reiji just nodded. It felt nice to have someone proud of him again. Even his mother didn’t show that in her last few days. 

“Well, how was your little date?” Garshield’s tone kept like a parent. It was a different side that Kageyama was still getting used to.

He blushed, even still and looked away. “It...wasn’t a date.”

“Oh you know what I mean.” Garshield laughed a bit. “How was your dinner, then?” 

“It was good.” Reiji kept it vague.

“Did you talk about the kiss?”

Reiji looked at the floor again. He couldn’t bring himself to bring it up and he definitely didn’t want to admit defeat to Garshield.

And with that, the man in front of him sighed. “It won’t get off your mind until you talk about it, you know.”

Kageyama begrudgingly nodded. He really didn’t want to bring it up.

“Well, it’s up to you, in the end.” Garshield shook his head and patted the boy’s shoulder in front of him. “You will do what’s good for you and your brother, I know this. In any case, I have something else to tell you.”

Reiji looked up curiously. “You do?”

“I do.” Garshiled took his hand back and let his smile fade as he turned back into his serious, businessman persona. “I think I might know where your father is.”

Kageyama’s eyes widened when he heard that. His father? Was that true? 

“And I think I might be able to find a place where you can talk to him. Since you’ve been such an asset to me, I figure, it’s the least I can do.” 

With a bit of anxious numbness in his body, he looked back down, trying to figure out what that meant. Would they be able to go back to normal if he saw him? Would there be a way to persuade him to come home? The idea was actually so overwhelming he couldn’t even find a way to answer or ask those questions. What would it mean to see his father again.

“Just think about it.” Garshield said. “I’ll do some more research, and this coming weekend, if you want to see him, I’ll pick you up and drive you there.”

Reiji nodded. “Ah...I’ll think about it. Seigou is sleeping over tomorrow, so I don’t know if it would be good…”

“I’ll show up on Sunday. You shouldn’t have practice since you don’t have a game until the weekend after.” 

Kageyama nodded again. “Thank you sir.”

Garshield started heading towards the front door again. “Well, I’ll see you then. You should have a meeting next week with the Soccer Association right?” 

“Yes, sir.”

“Make sure you study your notes then. Teikoku could use someone providing for them and talking them up at the association.” Garshield smiled. “However, when you win the Football Frontier it will be no contest as to who gets the praise and funding.”

Kageyama nodded in agreement, knowing that one of the clauses of this partnership was making Teikoku soccer champions. To be the best in Japan was a lot of pressure, but he hoped he could make it happen with all his connections and skills now. 

After Garshield said his goodbyes and left, Kageyama went back to look at the paperwork from the Soccer Association. Would there be a loophole in here to benefit Teikoku? He decided he would spend all night looking if he had too. It was what Garshield wanted.

He wondered why Garshield had taken up so much stock in that school, but he knew that no matter what, he would have to do what he could to bring them to the top. Maybe sometime he’d ask the man, but he felt like it would be best left unsaid for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Settin' the criminal activity scene. Hells yeah.  
Thanks for reading!!!


	19. A Very Wise Choice

The next day, Hibiki came over as planned. He had a shopping bag full of groceries in one hand and a bag with clothes and necessities in the other, that his mother insisted he had. This was going to be Kageyama’s first sleepover that wasn’t at school, and he was surprisingly very excited about it.

All they did was talk about soccer as they sprawled out on the couch. Every now and then Hide would babble and they would play with him. Also surprisingly, babies could be very entertaining. Reiji finally was enjoying the company of his baby brother, and the company of his best friend. It finally felt like things were turning up for the better. 

They had another Hibiki homemade dinner before they decided it was time to go to bed. They both slept in Reiji’s bed since they decided it was too cold in the night to sleep on the living room floor like they originally intended. Thankfully, he had a full sized bed so it was just big enough for two middle school aged kids to sleep in and they slept soundly.

The mix of the large blankets and the natural body heat of the two had them comfortable in the bed when the baby decided to wake them up early in the morning.

“Ugh, I’m sorry.” Reiji said with a sigh over the baby’s screams and as he watched Hibiki stir. “Hide doesn’t know how to sleep in.”

Hibiki gave a tired chuckle and sat up in the bed with him. “It’s alright.” He muttered. “Let’s go see what he wants.”

“You don’t have to come with me.” Reiji kicked his legs over the side of the bed, stretching before he stood up. “He’s probably just hungry.”

“Eh, I don’t mind.” Usually Hibiki would. He hated being woken up and he would usually throw a fit, being the delinquent he could be, but he knew the time and place. His best friend having to care for his infant brother would probably never be the time or place. He swung his legs over the other side and followed standing. 

They went to Hide and Kageyama picked up the crying baby. Eventually after a bit of unsuccessful bouncing, Hibiki offered to hold him while the other went to make baby formula.

It was so much easier for Reiji to deal with his infant brother with someone else there. No wonder parents usually had two people to take care of babies.

\--  
Eventually the baby was soothed back to sleep and the boys were able to go back to bed as well. They slept in until far too late into the morning, but at least it was a weekend.

With the baby in tow, they decided they would go play soccer by the riverbank after breakfast. Of course they couldn’t do much but pass it back and forth, but Hide was pretty content to lie on his blanket on the grass. Kageyama couldn’t focus on the soccer at hand because he worried about his brother. Hibiki understood.

Eventually the baby got fussy and they decided it was time to head back. Upon their arrival home, they spent the time they had talking and cooking, which seemed to be their routine. Reiji was so pleased they had this time together, even to the point he had forgotten about the day before. He forgot all of his troubles when Hibiki was around.

Eventually, however, Hibiki had to leave. His parents would have worried if he stayed too late.

“I can come over tomorrow if you want.” Hibiki told him as he walked to the hall.

Reiji followed behind, almost agreeing, but stopping himself. He remembered the baby in his nursery and paused. “Actually, tomorrow isn’t any good. I have to take Hide to the doctor.” It was the only lie he could think of. There was no way he was going to tell him he might see his father.

Hibiki nodded. “That’s alright.” He shrugged. “I can come over Monday.” He changed his tune, with a smile.

Reiji smiled back, warmly and excited. He loved the idea of his best friend coming back. “Sure.” He agreed.

Before either of them could do anything else, Hibiki took a step closer to Kageyama and threw his arms around him. It was a proper hug--warm, strong, and comforting--but also it was so much more intimate than their last hug.

Reiji melted into it, resting his head on his best friends shoulder, breathing him in, and feeling so content. He could have stayed like that all night. He held him back, not wanting to let go at all.

However, as Hibiki pulled away, he stayed just as close. He kept his arms around him, to look at his best friend’s expression, and give him a smile. 

Kageyama could have kissed again, they were so close.

“You gonna be okay?” Hibiki asked quietly, with his sympathetic smile.

Reiji looked down at his lips, wondering if he just should…

“Ah, yeah.” He finally was able to say after a second or two of hesitation. “I’ll be fine.”

Hibiki mirrored, and looked down at the other’s lips for just a glance before looking back up. His face flushed more and he nodded, quickly pulling away from their embrace. “Good.” He finally said, pulling his arms back into him and chuckling awkwardly. “Well! I should go then! I’ll see you on Monday!”

Kageyama was so lost for a moment, still in the bliss of being so close they could have kissed, and now in the confusion of suddenly being pushed away from that. He could feel his own blush taking over his face, as he nodded back. “Okay, yeah.” He agreed, and watched his friend leave much more hastily then he anticipated.

After he was gone, he let out an exhausted breathless sigh. He could have kissed him--would that have been what Hibiki wanted? They were so close. His best friend looked as if he was thinking the same, or at least that’s what he thought.

He should have kissed him. He beat himself up over that interaction for the rest of the night.

\--

The next day came quickly, and Kageyama kept having the interaction from the day before pop into his mind. However, he did his best to conceal it when Garshield came in the late afternoon.

“So, your father is in the next town over.” Garshield explained in the Kageyama’s home entryway. “I can take you to him, if you’d like. Just so you can talk to him.”

Kageyama nodded, knowing that he had a few choice words. He wanted to be angry, and sincere, but he had rehearsed all he was going to say in his head. He rehearsed how he would explain he was disappointed in his father for leaving, and how they could be self-sufficient without him, but how sorry he was that he wasn’t in his younger brother’s life. He had it ready to go.

“Do you want to bring Hide? I can get a babysitter if not.”

Reiji shook his head. “I think Hide should be with me.” He explained. “I’m ready.”

Garshield could see the resolve in the boy’s face, and he nodded back. “Let’s go then.”

\--

As they drove, they didn’t speak much. It wasn’t a very long drive, but it was still a while to get there. In this case, Garshield did not have a driver, and he drove the car himself. It would be a much more private moment that way.

After a half an hour, they pulled up to a small bar in a dirty, older part of town. It was run down, and it looked just as bad as the place that Reiji had ended up in when he dropped off the gun for that shady man. It gave him a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

However, it only got worse when he finally noticed what was in the front window. The man who sat at the table with his head in his hands and half drunk glass of something alcoholic was very clearly Kageyama Tougo.

Reiji stopped when he saw the disheveled man. His hair was down and unkempt, and his clothes were unclean. He looked like a vagabond who just moved into town. He looked so depressing.

“There he is.” Garshield motioned towards the window. “Would you like me to go in with you?”

Reiji stared at the man who was his father--no--who once was his father. This was just a drunkard--someone who he hadn’t even seen before. This was the man who lost his position in the Japanese National team, the man who left his family. This wasn’t his father. This was just some loser.

This was a new feeling for him, but it was a certain kind of feeling of contempt. He hated the man in front of him.

He looked down at his brother in his arms, and then looked at the window in front of him again. Finally, he shook his head.

“No, that won’t be necessary.” He told him simply, not opening the door or leaving the car. He just sat there. “Because I don’t need to see him.”

Garshield looked back over to the boy. “Are you sure?”

Kageyama nodded without hesitation now. “I’m sure.” He finally looked back at Garshield. “Thank you, for driving me all the way here, and I’m sorry for the trouble, sir, but I don’t need, nor do I want to talk to him.”

Again, Garshield could see the resolve in the young man’s eyes and he nodded. “I understand.” He said and turned the car back on. “That’s a very wise choice of you to make.”

“There’s nothing of that man that I need anymore.” Kageyama said, not taking his eyes off the window now as they began driving away. Finally they turned and he turned his head back to the road in front of him. 

It took a while of silence for them to speak again, but eventually Garshield decided to lighten the mood. “So. How was your sleepover?” He finally asked.

Kageyama immediately forgot his anger, and remembered his flustering moment he had had with Hibiki and blushed. “Fine.” He answered, trying to forget about not kissing his best friend when he wanted to.

Garshield chuckled. “I take it you two still haven’t talked about that kiss?”

Kageyama sighed and looked out the side window. Why would he need parents to embarrass him and ask personal questions when he has a perfectly good stranger as a sponsor to do it for him? He didn’t answer.

“You’ll have to bring it up someday.” He continued on. “I think you’re thinking a little hard on this, anyways, but that’s just my perspective. I remember being your age once. Everything was a bigger deal then.”

Kageyama ignored those words. This man had no idea what he was going through, he was sure of that.

He didn’t speak throughout the rest of the car ride.

\--

When Monday rolled back around Kageyama was fine in school, but Raimon was having some problems.

“What do you mean you’re leaving the soccer club?” Hibiki couldn’t fathom the idea that the soccer club was dying, even though there had been a few people not showing up to practice anymore.

Even Daisuke was becoming disillusioned with the idea that the soccer club would stay together.

“Look, the music club offered a good spot.” Tamiyama explained. “Besides, there’s no point anyways, we didn’t even make it to the Football Frontier.”

Hibiki stared at his teammate--former teammate--sternly a moment and then shook his head. “I can’t make you stay.” He finally said bitterly. “But you’re making a mistake.”

Daisuke placed a hand on Hibiki’s shoulder. “Let him go, Hibiki.” He ordered him, but in a light tone. “No need to guilt trip anyone. Thanks for your service Tamiyama.” 

The former teammate nodded and looked at the floor as he turned away.

Hibiki shook his head. Their club was falling apart and he couldn’t figure out why. They still had next year. They still had everything. It was one bus crash, and it was just an accident. At least, that’s what he assumed, since it wasn’t Kageyama’s fault. It had to have been just an accident.

Of course, it didn’t account for who forfeited their match but there was no way he could believe it was Kageyama. He promised it wasn’t him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some more depressing filler!! Next chapters will be a bit of a time skip so look forward to that!!!


	20. Celebration Ramen

Kageyama was fortunate to have an easy time for the rest of the year. While he still was stuck doing small chores for Garshield, they were not hard or dangerous jobs. Nothing more than package drop offs, and sometimes he was told to locate a person and tell Garshield where they were. It didn’t seem nefarious, and Reiji was grateful for that.

When Teikoku won the Football Frontier championship, they gave the credit to him for it. The Junior High Soccer Association were proud of the outcome of their student representative vice president, and in doing so gave plenty of funds to Teikoku. They basically could get anything they wanted or needed as long as soccer was involved.

Hibiki came over to Kageyama’s house regularly. They spent an equal amount of time taking care of baby Hideaki who was getting bigger and bigger by the day. They also spent a good amount of time playing soccer and getting even closer. They never talked about the kiss during this time.

While Teikoku’s soccer grew stronger and stronger, Raimon’s soccer club dissolved all together.

By their third year the soccer club had disbanded. Endou Daisuke no longer worked at Raimon, as there was no need for him. Hibiki joined the cooking club.

\--

It was the end of their third year when Reiji had grown a foot or so. He was now the tallest student in the Teikoku soccer club, and he was definitely taller than the average Japanese person. He had to get his school uniform tailored to fit him now, since he grew more than they expected when they initially purchased it. He did that pretty readily as he had the funds to do so.

He decided he wanted to continue with his schooling. He made a promise to Garshield that he would continue to bring Teikoku victory, but he wanted to attend high school. He took the test to join the adjacent high school to Teikoku that also had a prestigious sports program, and he was sure to get accepted. He also was awarded with an assistant coaching position for Teikoku Jr High during this time. This way they would continue to win.

There was no question of whether he would get in or not. Reiji knew that Garshield would make sure of it, so when he received the admissions letter, he was not too anxious.

“Are you going to open it?” Hibiki asked as they sat at the dining room table, the letter in front of both of them, and baby Hide occupied in the sitting room playing with baby toys. By this time Hide could waddle, and babble, but not really talk.

Hibiki had also grown but not as much as his best friend. He was rather tall himself, but Kageyama was taller. 

He had also watched Reiji study and prepare for the entrance exams so he was just as anxious as if he was getting his own letter. Hibiki was already accepted into a high school with a moderately good culinary program. He had an easy time getting in.

Kageyama just shrugged. “I guess so.” He wasn’t phased like the other was. He knew he would get in.

“Then open it! I wanna know! Or else I’ll open it for you!”

“Okay, okay.” He rolled his eyes but couldn’t help but smile at his excitement. He wondered if he was robbed of this feeling of anticipation by Garshield guaranteeing him an in, but at the same time, he was glad he didn’t have to deal with that anxiety. 

He opened the letter and read the first line without hesitation. 

“We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into our elite soccer program.” He read out loud and looked at his best friend’s face. He didn’t bother reading the rest.

The lit up expression made it worth it. There was an undeniable look of excitement, pride, and happiness that radiated off of Hibiki’s face. He reached out for the letter so he could read it himself.

“You made it in!” He exclaimed, staring at the paper for only a moment.

“I did.” Reiji smiled, more at his best friend than the circumstance.

“Aren’t you excited!?” He stood up. “We should celebrate!”

Kageyama giggled a bit and shrugged. “How?” He asked curiously watching his best friend walk to the kitchen.

“I’m going to make you my celebration ramen!” He said excitedly. 

“What’s ‘celebration ramen’?” Kageyama had never heard him say this and he stood up curiously, walking to the kitchen as well. He made sure his baby brother was in his line of sight as he did so. He could get into things a lot more now that he walked. Also he had a habit of chewing on things, due to his teething.

Hibiki started getting his ingredients ready. “It’s my signature ramen, but with more stuff in it! It’s special!”

It sounded like something he just made up, but he smiled anyways. “Okay, if you say so.” He leaned against the opening to the kitchen while glancing back at his baby brother. “I’ll need to get his food ready soon too.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.” Hibiki promised with a smile. “We are celebrating, and I’ve got it handled!”

Reiji smiled now, softer at his best friend. He was so helpful to have around, and he was so genuinely excited for him. He couldn’t have asked for more, it seemed. He forgot what it was like to even need parents. “Sounds good.” He said in a quiet tone.

Hibiki picked up on the change of his voice and turned around. He saw his small, almost somber smile and stopped. “You okay?” He asked, realizing something was off.

Kageyama smiled more and shook his head. “Never better.” He said truthfully. “I’m going to check on Hide.”

Hibiki smiled back and went back to cooking.

\--

“I told my parents I might be sleeping over.” Hibiki explained after they were through with dinner. His celebration ramen had come out great, as far as he was concerned. He picked up Hide off his seat after the baby was through with eating as well. “Do you want big brother Seigou to spend the night?” He asked the babbling, giggling baby in an enthusiastic voice.

Hide continued to giggle as he reached for Hibiki’s face.

Kageyama began clearing the dishes with a smile. “If you want to, I definitely won’t stop you.” 

By this time in their relationship, the two had spent so much time together over the year that half of Hibiki’s clothes and necessities were in Kageyama’s house. He even had his own toothbrush in their bathroom. 

At fifteen years old, Kageyama was living on his own, taking care of a baby, doing both work and school consistently, and balancing an intimate relationship that the two had never talked about.

Perhaps what Garshield had said before was true. Perhaps they really did need to talk about that kiss from years back. But then again, he didn’t want to ruin what they had.

“Do you want me to give Hide his bath?” Hibiki asked, interrupting Kageyama’s thoughts as he did the dishes.

Reiji looked at the clock and then nodded. He didn’t even realize it was so close to his brother’s bed time. “Ah, yes, if you don’t mind.” 

Hibiki bounced the baby in his arms and smiled at him. “Bath time!” He said excitedly which made the baby giggle.

It warmed Reiji’s heart to see him take care of his baby brother.

\--

It was late now, the baby was in bed and asleep and the teenagers were still up, as they were on the sofa in the sitting room together. They kept close for warmth, under one throw blanket that Marie had brought from Italy, and they talked about their lives.

“It’s really great that you got into that school.” Hibiki muttered, smiling as he looked out the window. “You’re a great player, and you’re gonna do this professionally some day.”

Kageyama looked at his best friend’s hopeful face, and then back down at his blanket covered legs. “Maybe.” He knew he was indebted to Garshield and there was no way he would be able to have a career in football on his own. He would probably never play professionally, but he wasn’t about to say that.

“I don’t think I will.” Hibiki finally said. “But I’m alright with that as long as you carry on our dream.”

Our dream. Kageyama hurt and simultaneously felt his heart melt at those words. He definitely couldn’t tell him that now. “Hey did I tell you I got a part time job?” He decided to change the subject.

“You did?” Hibiki looked at him curiously.

Kageyama looked back to him. “Yes. I got a job as an assistant coach for Teikoku’s soccer club.” He explained. “It’s a program they do with the high school I’m going to, so they said as long as I got accepted I would get the job.”

Hibiki smiled hearing that news. “That’s incredible. Are they going to pay you well?”

Kageyama nodded. However, most of his pay was actually from Garshield and his odd jobs, but Hibiki still didn’t know about that. He just knew there was a sponsor involved with Teikoku that was helping him with money. “I’m pretty excited about it.”

Hibiki paused and smiled wider, feeling prouder than before for his best friend. He knew that Reiji had had a hard time the past few years. He lost both of his parents and took care of his baby brother by himself mostly. It was amazing that he was still going so strong and now it was looking like he had a career lined up for him. As far as he was concerned any day now some Japanese professional teams would come to scout him.

This feeling that came over him was a genuine pride for his best friend. A few years ago, he would have been jealous, but as he had grown and helped Reiji with everything, he knew that this was the best possible outcome for him. He was happy with being a supporting role in his best friend’s story.

He put his arm around Kageyama, holding him into a hug as they sat on the sofa. It was intimate and close, and it was closer than they’d be in a while. He didn’t hug very often, but Hibiki couldn’t help himself.

Reiji blushed a bit as he found himself closer to the boy he still had a crush on, but he smiled anyways. It felt very nice to have this kind of closeness. He enjoyed it very much.

“I’m happy for you.” Hibiki finally said again. “You’re a great guy and you deserve this.”

However, with those words, brought back all the insecurities Kageyama had had. He remembered the bus crash, forfeiting the match, the incident with the gun, all of these underhanded things he had to do to get ahead. If Hibiki knew the truth, he would hate him.

He let his smile fade as he heard that. He knew he didn’t deserve this praise and attention, and he definitely didn’t deserve a spot at that school he was accepted to. No matter how hard he studied for the exams, he knew that it was all part of Garshield’s plan, just like he was. He was just a pawn.

Although, all of these thoughts went away when Hibiki spoke again. “You were my first real friend and you mean a lot to me.” He admitted. He looked away somewhat bashfully as he spoke, but only for a second. He then looked back at his best friend. “Is that too sappy?”

Kageyama looked at him too, inches away from each other, and smiled warmly. “Maybe a little.” He joked staying close to him. “You were my first real friend too, though.”

Hibiki didn’t think about stuff a lot. He was the kind of guy who just let things happen, and he was okay with it. It was why he got into so many fights, and why it took so long for him to make friends. But because of this, he made no effort to stop himself from leaning over to his best friend and planting a kiss on his lips.

It surprised Reiji, but he didn’t pull away, or stop him. He just kissed him back. The fact that he wasn’t the one who initiated it somehow made it better--he was able to just enjoy kissing his best friend. 

After a few seconds, Hibiki pulled away to look at him and he smiled. He hadn’t been thinking about kissing him, so he wasn’t really sure why he did it, but he remembered that time on the riverbank when Kageyama kissed him. He realized he liked it, but not until just then. Perhaps he had had these feelings all along.

But in true Hibiki fashion, he decided not to dwell on it, when he saw his best friend smile back, and he just leaned in to kiss him again.

Reiji was over the moon. He’d forgotten about his emotional turmoil and the self-pity he was stuck in previously and enjoyed the moment of their third kiss they’d ever had. Maybe they didn’t need to talk about it.

Finally, it looked as if things were truly turning up for Kageyama Reiji.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End this chapter on a happy note. It's more fun that way.


	21. New Business Partners

Spending the night kissing each other was a good trade off for not sleeping very well on Kageyama’s part. He knew he would have to go to weekend soccer practice the next day because the Football Frontier finals were the coming week, but he didn’t even care. He was okay with being tired.

Hibiki was able to go home the next morning and Reiji got the babysitter to come in soon after. He went to his weekend practice in a good mood, even smiling when he walked into the locker room.

“You look confident, Captain.” One of his midfielders said to him. He had gained the position of captain in his last year.

Kageyama grinned as he threw his number 10 jersey on. “I just have a good feeling about this game.” Of course, they were undefeatable with these last two seasons, so that wasn’t the truth. He was still riding his high from the night before.

\--

As projected, Teikoku won the Football Frontier, as reigning champions. They took the trophy home due to a strategy that Kageyama thought up and he took the winning goal. 

At the end of the match, Hibiki ran to the side of the pitch and hugged his best friend. It took all they could not to kiss right there in their bliss, as they had been continuing to do so since the night they shared their second kiss. 

Garshield watched them from the stands, and unbeknownst to them, snapped a picture of their embrace.

\--

The night they won the championship, Kageyama and Hibiki stayed in and kissed more. It had been a week or so since they started and they hadn’t stopped since. Of course it was only in the comfort of Kageyama’s house that they could do this, but it was good enough for them. They didn’t talk about it.

\--

Middle school graduation rolled around and Raimon and Teikoku had them on the same day. It wasn’t an issue, but Hibiki and Kageyama couldn’t be at each other’s graduation. It wasn’t the worst thing in the world but it was sad for Kageyama. He would have no one there for him.

However, he didn’t expect to see Garshield Bayhan in the front row of the guest section. He clapped when Kageyama’s name was called. It wasn’t his parents, but it brought somewhat of a prideful feeling to him regardless. At least there was someone there.

After the ceremony, Garshield walked over to the boy and placed a hand on his back. “My boy,” he started with a smile on his face, “Congratulations. I’m so proud of you for doing all of this, all while what was going on at home. You truly are an inspiration.”

Kageyama lit up with his words. They were very father-like and he supposed it was what he needed. “Thank you. It was all thanks to you.” He said humbly.

“Nonsense.” Garshield patted his back again. “Listen, let’s get dinner, after this, my treat. I have some business I want to discuss with you anyways.”

Reiji paused in thought as he knew he wouldn’t be able to say no. “I think Seigou might be waiting for me at home later.” He muttered quietly.

Garshield chuckled at the thought. “Well, we won’t be gone too long.” He promised. “Just a meal and some talk.”

“O-oh okay.”

“And I want you to meet someone.” He continued on. “A new colleague.”

Kageyama knew he couldn’t say no, so he just nodded. “Okay.” Though, he had no idea what to expect.

\--

Kageyama said his goodbyes to his previous Teikoku classmates, but they weren’t friends. None of them were really friends, they were there to win and do their jobs. The farewells weren’t that heartfelt, so it wasn’t a long moment.

He then followed Garshield to the chauffeured car where they both took their seats in the back of the car. 

They were silent on their drive to the restaurant.

\--

“Ah, here he is.” Garshield led the young man into a candlelit restaurant in the heart of town. It was large, and clearly an elite place. There was no question that only men of power met here to discuss business.

A man stood from his seat at an intimate table in the corner. He was clad in a well fitted suit that matched his confident smile. He was a pretty good looking man as far as Kageyama was concerned, but he wasn’t too out of the ordinary.

“This is Dr. Kanata.” Garshield introduced the man in front of him. “Doctor, this is my newest business partner, Kageyama Reiji.”

The doctor’s eyes lit up and his charismatic smile widened. “Ah, yes, the up and coming soccer player I’ve heard so much about.” He bowed politely. “I’m Kanata Ren, it’s good to meet you.” 

“Good to meet you.” Kageyama bowed back unsure of why he was meeting some young good-looking doctor. He had no intention of going into medicine himself. How was this man a colleague of Garshield’s?

They sat at the table and Reiji didn’t even touch a menu. He was too anxious, and he knew that when he would get home, Seigou would be waiting for him with dinner started, or possibly finished by then. He was now acquainted with the babysitter and he had a house key of his own. 

Sitting at the secluded table, they had a bottle of sake delivered without question and three glasses to accommodate. Kageyama did not touch it.

“Reiji, here, has to be home soon, because his friend is making him dinner.” Garshield explained as he poured two glasses of sake for him and the other adult at the table.

Kageyama stared skeptically, as he had never told Garshield about how Seigou would make them dinner, but he wasn’t about to ask about it. 

“Well, that’s very nice.” The doctor smiled. “Then let’s not take up too much of your time.”

Reiji shook his head, to be polite. “It’s fine.” He said simply.

“Well, let’s talk business so we don’t keep Hibiki waiting.” Garshield began.

The name of the boy he loved on the tongue of the man he wasn’t sure he could trust, but behaved as a father figure nonetheless, brought mixed feelings. He just nodded.

“Dr. Kanata, here, is a business partner of mine.” He explained to the boy. “He works as an OBGYN. You know what that is, right?”

“A doctor who works with pregnant women.” Kageyama only knew what that was because his mother regularly had to see one while she was pregnant. Did this have something to do with his mother?

The doctor chuckled. “Yes, that among other things.” He explained. “I work in a house for unmarried and wayward mothers. So that means I help these women give birth and I help them adopt out their babies to families who otherwise cannot have children.” 

Reiji nodded politely as he understood. What did that have to do with him?

“You’re probably thinking ‘why am I here then’, mm?” Garshield grinned as he took a sip of his sake. It was as if he was reading his mind. “Well, I’ll tell you. I have invested in this house, and other orphanages of the like, in hopes of helping families in need. Families like your own, Kageyama.”

The boy looked at him skeptically. What was he getting roped into now? He hoped it had nothing to do with his baby brother.

“And this is a highly complicated process.” Garshield explained. “I have clients who are willing to pay large sums of money so they can have children, and carry out their dreams. All they want are a family of their own.”

“Pay…?” Kageyama managed to ask. 

“Ah, yes, it’s an expensive procedure.” The doctor explained. “I would do it for free, if I could, but the upkeep of the facilities, finding nice families for the children, keeping the mothers happy and alive, it costs a lot.” 

“And that’s where you and I come in.” Garshield explained to the boy. “You and I provide the help this business needs to keep it going. However, this requires some...alternative measures to what we are used to.”

Reiji knew he meant illegal operations, as he had been a part of it for a while now, but he just nodded again, listening politely.

“It’s truly a wonderful thing that we’re doing.” Dr. Kanata smiled charismatically again. He gave a simple sigh. “Seeing the faces of those families who get to have children, even though the government has forbidden such a process. Do you know how difficult it is to get an adoption here, in Japan?”

Kageyama shook his head. He didn’t know anything. How difficult could it have been? That was one of the things Garshield had threatened would happen to his baby brother had he not taken his offer of help. It couldn’t be that hard. Could it?

“In other countries, in the west, where I have worked, it’s a much easier process.” He explained. “You have to go through so many hoops here, and many times people are not blessed to have the gift of a child for one small technicality.” 

“It’s such a shame really.” Garshield shook his head in pity. 

“It really is.” The doctor sighed again, this time more solemnly. He took a second before giving a slight smile. “But we are lucky here, to have the funds from Garshield and his clients to carry out this business. This way these mothers I work with can safely have children and those children can go to good homes with everyone in a good place, including the birth mothers.”

Reiji hadn’t expected such a long winded, heartfelt explanation, but he couldn’t say it seemed like an ultimately evil thing. Mothers who could not care for their children could give them up to adoptive parents who wanted to have children. That seemed like an honest business for something that had to go around the law. It seemed to come from a good place.

“Would you like to be a part of this, Reiji?” Garshield asked.

Even though he asked, Kageyama knew there was no way he could say no. He didn’t actually have the option. “Okay.” He said simply. He trusted Garshield enough to know that he would pay him, and he wouldn’t put him in too much of harm’s way. At least he hoped. “What would I have to do?”

“Well, actually, I would need help getting the babies to their new families.” The doctor explained. “You have a baby at home, right? A baby brother?”

How much had they talked about him, Kageyama wondered, but he nodded. “He’s a year old now.” 

“Ah, such a good age. They smile a lot then.” The doctor chuckled. “Well, Garshield and I thought you would be a perfect candidate because of that. All you would have to do is take the babies to their new families. You would look perfectly inconspicuous and you would have no problem as you understand babies from first hand.”

Kageyama figured they must have been low on staff, or something. There’s probably a lack of criminals willing to do such things. “Okay.” He nodded. “That doesn’t seem too difficult.”

“That’s my boy.” Garshield smiled. “And you would also be working directly with the orphanages around too. Not all of my clients want babies, sometimes they want to skip that stage and go straight into children.”

Reiji looked at him skeptically. So it wasn’t just this home for unwed mothers, it was also with the orphanages? He probably should have asked for what else it entailed before he agreed, but he supposed it wouldn’t be that bad. He didn’t hate children anyways. “So...I’d either be taking babies or children to their new homes?”

“Yes.” Garshield confirmed. “And, of course, it would be something you’d have to keep to yourself. We may be doing good work, but the government wouldn’t see it that way. It can be a risky job, but I wouldn’t let you be a target, you know that right?” He reached over and placed a hand on Reiji’s shoulder, the same way a proud dad would.

It made Kageyama soften. He didn’t want to see this man as a father figure but after everything that had happened--how he helped him with money, how he told him not to be ashamed of himself for loving his best friend, even how he showed up for his graduation--he couldn’t deny that Garshield was playing the role of a father. A protective father who was putting him in illegal situations, but a father nonetheless. He couldn’t help but believe him.

“And it wouldn’t be a frequent job.” The doctor explained. “I mean, it takes nine months for a baby to be born, sometimes longer, and it takes some time to find reputable households. We only have a few mothers at the home at a time, so it would just be odd jobs here and there.”

“You’ll be great at it.” Garshield squeezed his shoulder before letting go. “You’ll be paid handsomely for it too. Little Hideaki will be able to have so much. And you’ll be able to spoil that friend of yours who’s waiting for you at home.” He gave a sly smile at the implication.

Kageyama blushed and looked away. “Yeah.” He agreed, knowing there was no way he could say no. Delivering babies to desperate families seemed better than delivering firearms to hardened criminals, anyways. 

“It’s settled then.” The doctor chuckled and poured everyone a drink of the sake “Let’s toast to new business partners, then.” 

“To new business partners.” Garshield lifted his cup.

Reiji did the same and gingerly took a sip when the other two did. He didn’t like the taste of alcohol.

“I look forward to working with you, Kageyama Reiji.” Dr. Kanata smiled politely.

“Likewise.” Was all Kageyama could say. All of this definitely seemed too good to be true.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Garshield is just getting sketchier and sketchier. Also sorry it took me so long to update, life got me.


	22. Teenagers in Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small TW for internalized homophobia, but it gets resolved before the end of the chapter and like I said it's REALLY small this chapter. But I thought I'd give a warning just in case because as a gay myself, I know that can kind of be a trigger for some of us.

When Kageyama got home, he was greeted by the sound of his baby brother’s giggles coming from the kitchen. He couldn’t help but smile hearing him and he smiled wider when he made his way to the busy room.

“You’re back! Congratulations on graduating!” Hibiki said, covered in oil and flour and just about everything, while his baby brother sat on the floor near his feet. 

“Thanks. You too.” Reiji chuckled and walked over to them. “What’s all this?”

“I made celebration ramen again! Hide helped me this time.”

The baby sat on the floor chewing on a piece of seaweed, happily.

“Wow, well, thanks, you guys.” Reiji kneeled down to give a pat on his baby brother’s head and then stood up in front of his best friend.

Hibiki smiled at him and without thinking, leaned up to kiss his lips. After a small peck he pulled back with a smile. “I also made a cake.” He pointed to the counter next to them. 

Kageyama blushed a bit at the kiss and looked over at the homemade cake, nicely decorated with strawberries and cream on top. “You did all of this in one afternoon?”  
Hibiki shrugged. “Yeah, why not?” He said nonchalantly and turned back to get dinner ready. “So I hope you’re hungry.”

Reiji picked up Hide off the floor and started walking to get him situated at the table. “Are you hungry, Hide?” He asked him in Italian, in a more bubbly voice than he would usually use.

Holding two full bowls of ramen and chopsticks in his hands, Hibiki laughed. “What did you say to him?”

“I asked him if he was hungry.” After getting the baby in his chair, he reached to grab a ramen bowl. 

“Why are you speaking to him in Italian?” He asked incredulously. “It’s not like he knows what you’re saying.”

“He will some day.” He sat down with him after getting some food for the baby as well. “Besides it’s what my mother would have wanted.”

Hibiki got quiet when he heard that, knowing that his best friend’s parents were a sensitive topic. He never talked about them. “You think so?” He asked trying not to pry too much, but he was painfully curious.

“I’m sure.” Reiji smiled at his younger brother. “She did the same for me. She said it’s part of our heritage so she made sure I knew the language of her home country. I’m sure that she would have wanted this. Hide will grow up learning and studying Italian.”

Hibiki shrugged. “Alright.” He gave in and laughed before he began to eat. “I guess I’m going to have to learn Italian.” 

They finished their dinner and made a dent in the cake, even letting Hide have some as a treat. He loved it. 

After a quick cleanup of the dishes and the baby, they put Hideaki to sleep and got ready for bed themselves. They spent a few minutes kissing before actually falling asleep.

\--

It took a few days of their break from school for Hibiki to finally go back home to see his parents. They had called the house saying they had missed their son. Those few days were spent like any other, playing soccer in the front of the house, making elaborate dinners, caring for the baby, and then ultimately kissing all the time. 

The two still hadn’t talked about their relationship when he left for a few days to actually go home. Kageyama was fine with this, but he did miss him when he was gone.

He was studying the official paperwork given to him by the Youth Soccer Association, as he was still the Vice President, when he heard a knock at his door. 

He got up to see Garshield in the entryway, and immediately became skeptical.

“Good day to you, my boy.” Garshield smiled at him. “Is this a bad time?” He glanced behind Kageyama’s shoulder to see into the house, where he only saw Hide playing with some baby toys on a blanket in the sitting room.

Reiji shook his head and stood to the side. “No, come in.” He said somewhat reluctantly. It wasn’t that he didn’t want company, but there was always something so sly about Garshield. He never came over unless he wanted something. He was not looking forward to that conversation. Would he have to go to work for that doctor already?

Garshield came into the house and followed to the sitting room. “I’m glad you’ll have me, Reiji, I wanted to catch up with you, since we didn’t really have the time at your graduation.” 

Kageyama felt a little formal, and yet simultaneously casual, hearing his first name come out of his benefactors mouth, but he nodded anyways. “Okay...please sit down.” Kageyama sat on the sofa near his brother and put his papers on the coffee table. 

Garshield sat on the armchair near him and smiled. “How are you doing? I know there’s a lot of changes going on.”

Reiji nodded and gave a nonchalant shrug. “Yeah, but I’m good.” He muttered quietly.

“How’s the Association work?” Garshield gestured to the paper in front of him. “You’ve helped a lot with the business side of things. You have a real knack for that.” 

Kageyama gave a humble nod. “Thank you.” He was waiting for the bad news or the job, but he had a strange look on his face. Garshield looked...curious. Content? He wasn’t sure.

“How’s it going with Hide?”

“He’s good. He’s teething, so he’s chewing on everything, but he’s fine.” Kageyama looked at his baby brother. He had a teething ring in his mouth happily.

Garshield chuckled watching the baby. It was a rather sweet picture. “Well, I’m glad it’s going well then.” There was a pause before he went on. “How is it with your little friend?”

Kageyama blushed a bit when he knew exactly where this was going. “Ah, it’s good.” He bit his bottom lip as he thought about it. “He just went home for the first time in a while.”

“Have you talked about the kiss?”

The boy paused before shaking his head. “No…”

“Reiji, you have to talk about it.” Garshield sounded so upset, but he sounded more like a disappointed father who wanted his son to get higher marks in class. “You two will be in emotional limbo until you can talk about it. He’s over here all the time isn’t he? You two might as well be dating.”

Kageyama turned bright red at the thought and looked away bashfully. He didn’t know how to feel about such a thing. Dating. It was such a foreign word. Sure he’d heard about people courting and going on dates, but never two boys doing it. 

“If you’re worried about whether or not he feels the same way, I think it’s safe to say he wouldn’t be over here all the time if he didn’t.” Garshield carried on. “Where does he sleep when he comes over?”

If Reiji’s face could have turned redder, it would have. He had a miniature panic attack as he tried to find the right way to answer that. “Ah-well--uh--”

“Well, that’s as good enough an answer as any.” Garshield laughed when he heard him fumble through his words. “If you two already share a bed, you might as well be kissing.”

“O-oh--!” Kageyama felt like hiding his face. He was so embarrassed, and there was no way he could tell him that they had been kissing already. 

However, as if he was reading his mind, Garshield looked at him seriously. “Did you kiss him again?”

Kageyama finally hid his face.

“Reiji, did you kiss him?”

“I really don’t want to talk about it.” It sounded muffled as he spoke into his hands.

Garshield shook his head but gave a bit of a grin. “Reiji…” He made a tsk noise with his tongue before going on. “You’re going to have to talk to him about it. You know that right?”

Kageyama dropped his hands to look at him for clarification. He did not want to talk about it.

Garshield went on. “Listen, I think that boy loves you. And you are very lucky to have someone like that. If you two have since kissed, you should ask him if he will go steady with you.”

With an apprehensive silence at first, Kageyama decided to counter that. “If I ask him that, he’ll think I’m...strange.” For lack of a better word. He didn’t want to say “pervert” but that’s where his mind went. Boys didn’t date other boys.

But his father figure sympathetically shook his head. “It’s not strange.” He leaned forward as if to close the gap between them further. “Just because people here don’t understand, doesn’t mean it’s strange. There are hundreds of people just like you. People who love others of the same sex. It’s actually fairly common. People just don’t talk about it.”

Kageyama shrugged with a nervous look on his face. “I just haven’t met anyone else...like that.”

“Yes, you have.” Garshield smiled wider. “That boy that you kissed is the same way. It’s not that unnatural.” 

Kageyama looked at him skeptically. 

Garshield carried on to assure him. “In America there are entire clubs dedicated to individuals who are attracted to people of the same sex. It’s very normal.”

Kageyama couldn’t deny that fact as he had never heard that before, but why would he lie to him? He had no reason to. He was starting to believe him more and more.

“So if I were you, I’d ask that boy to go steady with you.” Garshield smiled at him. “No, you know what--if you ask that boy to go steady with you, I will buy you anything you want. Anything at all.” 

Kageyama looked at him incredulously. “What?”

“That’s how serious I am. If you ask that boy to be your boyfriend, I will buy you anything of your choice. Anything. If you want I’ll buy you a whole new house if you want. I’ll buy you a king sized bed. Or a car.” The same sly smile stayed on his face.

Kageyama laughed in disbelief at this statement. He definitely wouldn’t take him up on that, but it showed how serious he was. “Okay, I’ll ask him.” He finally relented still bright red at the idea. “I don’t know when he’ll be back here though. His parents called him back home.” 

Garshield gave a bit of a shrug back, mirroring the boy’s nonchalant gesture earlier. “Well, I won’t put a time limit on it, but the sooner the better.” He suggested.

Reiji looked down and covered his face in his hands again. He felt strangely comforted that this man could embarrass him like a parent might have done. 

And just like a parent would Garshield laughed. “Well, since I have your word, let’s celebrate it.” He suggested in a different tone. “Let me take you and Hide to dinner. I promise I won’t talk about you asking the boy to go steady with you.” 

Reiji looked up at him and saw he looked as if he was telling the truth. He gave a bit of a sigh and looked at his baby brother a second before looking back at the man. “Okay.” He agreed. “You don’t think Hide will be too much of a problem?”

Garshield chuckled. “No, not at all. How can a cute baby be a problem?” He asked rhetorically and stood up from his seat. “Go ahead and get ready, I’ll wait in the car.”

Kageyama smiled at his father figure and stood up to grab his baby brother. That was a surprisingly pleasant interaction even though he felt rather embarrassed. It was just the right amount of domestic and parental to make him feel comfortable.

He made sure not to keep Garshield waiting and got the both of them ready quickly.

\--

The whole dinner, Kageyama forgot that he was waiting for the bad news of a job to be thrown at him. As a matter of fact, the two had pleasant conversations about soccer, business, and family. It was casual, simple, and pleasant.

The night came to a close and personal work between Kageyama and Garshield did not get brought up. Garshield did not have a job for him.

As far as he was concerned, Reiji thought it was actually a very good night. And strangely he was excited to go home and think about formally asking Hibiki to date him. 

\--

A night didn’t go past without a call from Hibiki. In fact, only two nights even went by before Hibiki came back to stay a few nights in the Kageyama household. When he showed up he looked a little apprehensive.

After the door closed and he left a kiss on his best friend’s cheek, Hibiki finally spoke. “I have something to tell you.” He muttered. “Don’t be mad.”

Kageyama did not like where this was going.

“Okay, so when I went home, my parents were all weird about me staying over here.” Hibiki started to explain as he walked into the house and started making himself comfortable. “They started asking me a bunch of questions and listening in on our calls and stuff, really weird stuff.”

“What kind of questions?” Kageyama needed the clarification, as his anxiety began to spike. He was glad he never said anything about their relationship over the phone.

Hibiki shrugged. “Like, why I was always there and asking me about...you know, us.” He gave a bit of a strained look before he went on. “So I told them about your situation.”

“Seigou…” Kageyama’s voice was pure disappointment. Now was definitely not the time for them to discuss their relationship it seemed.

“But they were cool with it!” Hibiki put his hands up as if to stop Kageyama from pouncing on him, which he was not going to. “I told them about the money you have and how I was helping you take care of your brother, and how you were super boss at everything.”

Kageyama’s stern disappointed expression, slowly turned into a bit of a smile when he realized his best friend was complimenting him through this. He couldn’t stay mad at him. “Well, as long as they’re not going to report me or whatever.”

“Them? Nah.” Hibiki grinned back when he saw the smile on his best friends face. “They were worried we had a secret relationship I didn’t tell them about, which I suppose is kinda true, but they’ve got no clue. They wanna meet Hide though.” 

“A secret relationship?” That word “relationship” was enough to send Reiji’s heart pounding.

Hibiki shrugged again. “Yeah you know, I’m always sneaking off over here, making you guys dinner, we kiss all the time--they don’t know that part.” 

Kageyama nodded and watched Hibiki sit on the sofa comfortably in front of Hide’s play spot on the floor. He followed suit and sat down next to him. “You sure they don’t know about us?” He muttered quietly after they were silent for a few moments. 

“What? You mean the kissing?” He asked, confused. “Yeah they have no idea about that.”

Reiji stared at the floor and bit his bottom lip. The prospect of asking to go steady for some reason seemed so far away all of a sudden. He might have to wait on that.

“You alright?” Hibiki asked as he noticed his best friend was distant. He placed his arm around him and gave a sympathetic look. 

“Yeah, I’m fine.” There was something comforting about being pulled into an embrace with this boy. Maybe they really didn’t need to talk about it. Maybe he could explain that to Garshield.

No, he knew he couldn’t. He wanted him to talk to this boy and he knew he had to, otherwise he would disappoint him. He hated being stuck in this. 

Maybe this was the best time to bring it up. It’s certainly the earlier the better, he was right about that.

“We should talk about the kissing.” He finally muttered anxiously, not making eye contact as he said so.

Hibiki was stunned for a second, as he had not expected such a serious tone for such a subject. They had been kissing for a while and it had been fine. Why would it be a problem now? “Okay.” He muttered keeping his arm around his best friend. “What, you don’t wanna do it anymore?”

“N-no. Not that.” Reiji bit his bottom lip for a second before gaining the emotional strength to carry on. “I like the kissing. A lot.”

Seigou shrugged at him letting a confused smile form. “Yeah, me too.” He chuckled.

“So uhm...I think we should go steady.” Kageyama looked up at the confused smile on his best friend’s face. When he didn’t say anything he carried on. “I mean...we should be boyfriends.”

There was a pause before Hibiki gave another chuckle. “Is that a thing we can do?” He had never heard of two men going steady with each other, but Reiji was one of the smartest people he knew. Perhaps he knew something he didn’t.

“Yeah...why wouldn’t it be?”

“I don’t know.” Hibiki cocked his head to the side in thought. “Have you ever heard of two guys dating? I haven’t.” 

“I have.” Kageyama nodded. This whole conversation gave him anxiety. “Yeah. In America they have whole clubs dedicated to boys who go steady with other boys.” He imitated Garshield’s words as it was the only proof he had. If his only role model says it was okay, then it had to be okay. He wouldn’t lie about that. “I mean...we would have to keep it a secret here, but it would be...for us.”

Hibiki looked confused but he figured his best friend wouldn’t lie. He shrugged again and pulled Kageyama a bit closer. “Okay, sure then.” He smiled more.

“Really?”

“Yeah, I mean we already kiss all the time, why not?” Hibiki leaned over and stole another kiss from his best friend’s lips pulling away slower this time. “You’re my boyfriend.” He said in a playful tone.

Kageyama blushed and playfully pushed him. “Shut up…” He let his voice trail off only to be distracted by another kiss. 

Garshield was right, he supposed. There really wasn’t any harm in talking about it, it seemed. Hibiki didn’t ask any other questions, he just accepted the fact that they could be together. It was one of the nice things about his best friend--well, now boyfriend.

Kageyama leaned into their kiss more, halfway on top of Hibiki as he enjoyed their intimacy. Hibiki snaked his other hand around the small of his boyfriend’s back as he did so before they were interrupted.

Smack!

Then crying came from the floor.

Kageyama pulled away as quickly as he could to see his baby brother crying and sitting right near the coffee table. There was no doubt a little red spot on the boy’s head as he looked over at him.

“Hide…” Reiji stood up to kneel over to his brother who seemed to have tried to stand and fell over to hit his head on the side of the table. 

“Is he okay?”

Kageyama made sure to look him over and as there was no bruise, or blood, he assumed he would be fine. “He just has a bump.” He said and picked him up off the floor to give him a hug.

“Aww, poor Hide-chan.” Hibiki kneeled over the same and placed his hand on the baby’s back. “You’re okay.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t kiss when the baby is awake.” Kageyama muttered through a blush as he tried to hush his baby brother.

Hibiki just laughed. “Yeah, maybe not.”

\--

For the rest of break, the boys spent most of the time at the Kageyama household, but every now and then they visited the Hibiki household. Hibiki’s parents thought Hide was very cute. 

The nights when they were at the Kageyama house, which was most nights, they put the baby to bed and kissed before going to sleep. Now that they were boyfriends there was a very clear difference about how they enjoyed it. Both were more confident. More than once they probably didn’t close the curtains enough, but they didn’t care. 

They were teenagers in love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Motives, motives, motives...I'm very excited to write more of this.


End file.
